Rocky Mountain Regional Round-Up: Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry Invests Nearly $4 billion for Capital/MRO Projects

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--It is a Rocky Mountain high for the region, at least in terms of life science capital investment. A recent survey of active reported projects in Industrial Info's Pharmaceutical Tracker - Online Database has revealed an impressive 69 capital and MRO (maintenance) projects with a cumulative total investment value (TIV) of nearly $3.8 billion. These figures translate into a regional project average TIV of $55 million.

Click on the image for a breakdown of Pharma-Biotech project spending in the Rocky Mountain region.

The regional projects include grassroot facilities and existing buildings that were bought with the intent to renovate and equip. Annual maintenance programs were also considered, as were expansions of existing facilities. Sources for the project activity include private industry, commercial developers, universities and the federal government.

Arizona is the clear-cut leader in both current project spending and number of projects. The state has 21 projects in various stages of development carrying a total TIV of $1.4 billion. The state has been extremely proactive in beefing up its university-based research infrastructure and that in turn has spurred private investment. The largest of the university projects on the block is the Advanced Biomedical Campus (ABC) Research Building II. Valued at $207 million, the building will be on the growing Phoenix biomedical campus (PBC) in Phoenix that is being developed jointly by the Arizona University System, the University of Arizona and Arizona State. A study performed in 2005 revealed that the PBC could rank among Arizona's leading "economic engines" by 2025, generating $1.1 billion to $2.1 billion in annual economic impact for the state of Arizona and providing stable employment for 14,000 to 24,000 Arizonans. Other plans for the site include the construction of a medical education building, currently in design, that will cost $156 million and get underway next year.

Utah has claimed a strong second place with 18 projects and a TIV of $1.03 billion. Translating into a healthy $57 million average TIV per project, the investment is a combination of both public and private sources. The largest current project in the state is Fresenius Incorporated's plans to expand its kidney dialysis products plant in Ogden. If the company proceeds with the project, the $200 million plan will add another 100,000-square-foot facility to accommodate both production and distribution.

The remainder of the projects are scattered through the region's other states, which includes Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. Of these states, only Wyoming currently lacks at least one project on the books. But that is apt to change, if the positive industry investment in the region as a whole is any indication.

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