Pharmaceutical-Biotech Construction Update: 31 New Facilities Open Doors in First Half of 2008

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The first six months of 2008 have ended, and within that time, the Pharmaceutical & Biotech Industry has completed construction on a total of 31 new plants and research centers across North America. A recent survey of active reported projects in Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker - Online Database revealed that cumulatively, the projects represent a potential total investment value (TIV) of $1.7 billion, which includes both original construction costs and possible future phases that are already planned or under consideration. The new plants included both grassroot facilities as well as the renovation of existing buildings.

Click on the image at right to see a list of Pharma-Bio plant openings in the first six months of 2008.

Although the 2008 figures represent a drop of 10% over the same period in 2007 when 34 new plants opened, the TIV has remained the same. The new facilities each carry an impressive average potential TIV of $55 million per site. Sources for this new activity include private industry, commercial developers, universities and the federal government. The projects are a diverse group in terms of both size and focus, ranging from a $3.5 million 20,000-square-foot crime lab in Rockledge, Florida, to Amylin Pharmaceutical's (NASDAQ:AMLN) (San Diego, California) $80 million manufacturing plant addition in West Chester, Ohio, which was accomplished through the renovation of an existing 151,000-square-foot building. Amylin has plans to invest an additional $400 million into the site.

From a regional standpoint, the Great Lakes and Southwest regions both landed in first place with six new plant openings since the beginning of the year. In addition to the Amylin plant, the Great Lakes region welcomed Roche Nimblegen Systems and its new high-density arrays facility in Madison, Wisconsin. In the Southwest, Cytogenix opened a DNA-based vaccine plant in Houston. The company invested $4 million to build an 8,000-square-foot plant to produce high-purity synthesized DNA. In Arkansas, the Alberto-Culver Company (NYSE:ACV) (Melrose Park, Illinois) completed construction at the beginning of the year on a $60 million personal care products production plant in Jonesboro.

With six months left to go in 2008, the sector as a whole is expecting another 52 plants and laboratories to open before the year is over. Additionally, there are currently 171 new sites in North America on track to open in 2009 and beyond.

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