Pharma-Biotech Capital Construction 2015 Investment Review: $15 Billion in 2015 Project Kick-Offs

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With 2016 in its earliest days, let's take look back at some of the high points in 2015. A recent analysis of reported projects that began in 2015, derived from Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical-Biotech Online Database, has revealed that the North American Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry kicked off a healthy $15 billion worth of construction activity.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing kickoffs in the Pharmaceutical & Biotech industry in 2015.

Despite the industry's ongoing merger and acquisition activity, as well as the continued slashing of jobs across the globe, 701 projects carrying an average total investment value (TIV) of $20 million managed to make it to construction status.

This healthy total was helped in part by several huge projects, the largest being the $1.25 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas. Operating under a partnership between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal Research Service (ARS), the NBAF will be filled with elaborate laboratories ranging in biosafety levels (BSL) 1 through 4.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the $1 million scheduled maintenance programs. The projects referenced are sourced out of the public, private and institutional markets, and include everything from grassroot projects to annual maintenance. The 2015 projects are a good reflection of the industry as a whole, and where its capital dollars are going: manufacturing, research and distribution.

Big Pharma has joined in, investing hundreds of millions in capacity and plant expansions, as well as new build. Last year, AstraZeneca's (NYSE:AZN) (London, England) Medimmune division launched construction of a $250 million expansion at its Frederick, Maryland manufacturing center. Building 36 will house increased development, production and storage of monoclonal antibodies and other biologics.

On the opposite side of the country, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) (Foster City, California) chose La Verne, California as the site to build a $250 million intravenous biologics plant. The 400,000-square-foot building will house production, research and distribution.

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