Not Your Traditional Gulf Coast: Texas, Louisiana Home to $1.5 Billion in Life Science Project Investment

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The life science industry is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions Texas or Louisiana. But beyond the smoke stacks of the hundreds of the two states' chemical processing plants and refineries are a surprising number of life science plants and research centers.

Click on the image on the right for a table detailing $1.5 billion in life science project investments.

A recent survey taken from Industrial Info's PECWEB Direct revealed 46 active projects with a cumulative total investment value (TIV) of $1.5 billion in various stages of development. Some are already under construction, while others are in preliminary planning. These projects top every city planner's list because of the typically high wages and future expansion prospects they offer, and they carry an average TIV of $33 million each.

The projects range in size from a $1 million regularly scheduled maintenance program at the BASF Ibuprofen plant in Bishop, Texas, to the $255 million Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan research building now under construction at the Houston MD Anderson campus.

For years, many have wondered why the Houston area has not leaped to the top in commercial life science activity. Home to what is arguably the world's top medical center, the area is a veritable brain trust when it comes to answering the medical needs of human beings. With a local industry organization, BioHouston, doing its best to get the word out about the possibilities, it has nevertheless been a struggle to become the Boston of the South.

Perhaps it is the preconceived notion of Texas and Louisiana being places for heavy process industry, and not a good match for the "clean" manufacturing and research of pharmaceutical and biotech companies. That is a fallacy. What both states have is a lot of empty space and a pro-business environment. The intellectual capital is present and accounted for, as well as a plethora of able workers. It is going to take a little more effort, but there are signs the tide may be slowly turning.

Industry giant Allergan Incorporated (NYSE:AGN) decided long ago that Waco, Texas, was a great fit for its massive specialty pharmaceutical manufacturing plant that is to be set on a 12-acre site. The latest in a long line of expansions at the campus is the $100 million project now under way to add what is referred to as "Sterile 7 Building." With the bulk of that total going to equipment, the project will be completed in phases throughout the next several years, with DPR Construction (Austin, Texas) overseeing construction.

While plans are not yet definite, Grifols USA (Los Angeles, California) has San Marcos, Texas, as the possible site for a $61 million fractionation plant. If built, the plant would produce plasma-derived medicines and join the $15 million plasma-testing site that the company opened last year.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina did unspeakable damage to Louisiana and its residents. The wicked storm also set back the state's nascent but strong efforts to grow its life science industry, but it is finding its footing almost a decade after the storm.

Shreveport is the home to Dr. Reddy's over-the-counter contract manufacturing plant. The company is considering investing more than $16 million to expand the existing 300,000-square-foot plant by adding up to six new production and packaging lines.

Baton Rouge is still hoping that the long-delayed plans by China's Hiuheng Medical to invest $50 million for a production plant will come to pass. The project can't move forward without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for is Whole Body Gamma Knives and other medical devices.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.