Pharma-Bio Industry to Invest $4.3 Billion in Capital/MRO Project Starts in Fourth-Quarter 2013

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Virtually every corner of North America will house a portion of $4.3 billion in capital and maintenance (MRO) projects for the Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry during the fourth quarter of 2013. A recent survey taken from Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker - Online Database forecasts 235 projects with a cumulative total investment value (TIV) of $4.3 billion that are ready to begin construction before the end of the year.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing pharmaceutical-biotech capital/MRO projects that are set to begin construction in fourth-quarter 2013.

The projects are scattered throughout North America, and carry an impressive average value of $18.5 million. The fourth-quarter 2013 numbers reflect an impressive 40% increase over the same period last year, when $2.6 billion was invested to start 224 projects.

From a regional standpoint, the Northeast claims first place with 32 projects representing $1.2 billion. Higher-Ed projects helped boost the region this quarter, including plans for a $375 million School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Building planned for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Designed by HOK (New York, New York), the project will feature 500,000 square feet built to Gold LEED standards and house medical school interdisciplinary research and education. A joint venture between Gilbane (Albany, New York) and The LiRo Group (Buffalo, New York) is handling the construction management for the project, which is expected to be complete in 2016.

Next up is the Southeast, with a respectable $801 million invested in 41 fourth-quarter 2013 project starts. Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE:JNJ) Vistakon division is set begin a $218 million expansion and upfit of its contact lens plant in Jacksonville, Florida. A 23,000-square-foot building addition will be added to the existing 765,000-square-foot facility, of which 15,000 square feet will be renovated, all to increase production capacity of disposable contact lenses, including Acuvue.

As always, the Mid-Atlantic region is near the top for industry spending. The region rounds out the top three, with $504 million divided among 31 project starts. The spending leader for the quarter is the $102 million Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) expansion in Clayton, North Carolina. The company is expanding its 480,000-square-foot campus to increase production of Levemir and other insulins, as well as aseptic filling, final assembly and packaging of the FlexPen and other insulin delivery devices.

A number of the fourth-quarter 2013 projects already have begun construction, or in the case of MRO projects lasting a few days or a week, will soon be complete. As for the rest, there remains the possibility that a number of these projects will be delayed, put on hold, or canceled. The individual status of each of the 233 projects will be carefully monitored for changes.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, 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.