BIOTECHNOLOGY / PHARMACEUTICAL
UPDATE
December 2006
McIlvaine Company
Skanska to Build Biotech Plant for Pfizer
Skanska has been commissioned to build a biotech plant in Strängnäs, Sweden. Skanska will also be responsible for installing the process equipment. The contract amounts to approximately SEK 600 M, which will be included in order bookings for the fourth quarter.
The customer is the Pfizer pharmaceuticals company, which is investing approximately SEK 1.5 billion in the facility. The aim is to create a flexible biotechnology production facility.
The project comprises an approximately 5,000-square-meter building that will be adjoined to an existing plant. Construction work is under way and is expected to proceed for 30 months.
In Denmark the expansion of Pfizer’s Danish offices is under way. In the US, Skanska has completed several projects on behalf of Pfizer over the years, and currently a laboratory is being built in Ann Arbor, MI.
Merced College Building Updated
A Merced College science building that doubled as a Cold War-era bomb shelter is undergoing a radical transformation.
College officials said the $17.2 million renovation of the school's 28,000-square-foot science building should be completed by July 31. 2007.
The two-story building was redesigned to accommodate Merced College's population of approximately 12,000 students — a population that is much larger than when the school was built.
The project also will result in 4,000 square feet of additional space for an anatomy lab, cadaver room and biology prep area. When the building opens in July, it will serve as housing four new labs for biotechnology, chemistry, geology and physical sciences.
The building is one of five ongoing projects at Merced College geared toward meeting the needs of an expanded student population. For example, with the recent passage of Proposition 1D, Merced College officials will soon move toward building a $17 million allied health facility at the campus.
Holmes Biopharma to Acquire Drug Development Lab
Holmes Biopharma, Inc. has signed a letter of intent to purchase an existing pharmaceutical development, clinical manufacture, biotechnology, and analytical laboratory business located in the eastern U.S. The name and terms of the acquisition will be disclosed in the coming weeks.
Abbott Acquires Kos Pharmaceuticals
Abbott has acquired a majority of the shares of Kos Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $3.7 billion. The acquisition follows a scheduled expiration on December 12th for the purchase of all outstanding common stock of Kos. Abbott's shares now represent approximately 91.4 percent of Kos' outstanding shares. The merger is expected to occur within the next few days.
Novartis Expanding Presence in Cambridge
The new Vaccines and Diagnostics headquarters site will further strengthen the presence of Novartis in the Cambridge area, initiated through the creation of NIBR in 2002 as the global headquarters site for pharmaceuticals research with 1,300 associates.
Initially, approximately 50,000 square feet of office and laboratory space will be used for the new division headquarters, bringing the presence of Novartis in Cambridge to close to one million square feet of commercial space.
Forest Labs To Acquire Cerexa
Forest Laboratories, Inc. has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Cerexa, Inc. for $480 million cash. As part of the acquisition, Forest will obtain worldwide development and marketing rights (excluding Japan) to two injectable antibiotics and an option to a third, early stage injectable antibiotic. The lead compound, ceftaroline acetate, which is entering Phase III studies, is a next generation, broad-spectrum, hospital-based cephalosporin antibiotic that is being developed for initial indications of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) and community acquired pneumonia (CAP).
The transaction is expected to close in Forest's fourth quarter following the expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period.
Lonza and Bio-One Building in Singapore
Lonza and Bio-One Capital will build a large-scale mammalian cell culture facility in Singapore to manufacture commercial biopharmaceuticals, under a new joint venture, Lonza Biologics Tuas. Depending upon customer request, Lonza anticipates the capital investment will amount up to $350 million. This will be the second large-scale mammalian manufacturing plant in Singapore and the third one globally that Lonza has built.
Lonza Biologics Tuas, located in Tuas Biomedical Park, will have up to four mammalian bioreactor trains. Each will have a flexible capacity of 1,000 up to 20,000 liters inclusive of the respective purification units. Lonza expects the facility to become operational latest by 2011.
The 80,000-liter large-scale mammalian biopharmaceutical production facility to be built under the February 2006 joint venture between the two companies is now completely owned by Lonza, according to the Lonza Biologics Tuas joint venture. Genentech holds the exclusive option to acquire the Lonza-owned facility, which is producing the company’s cancer drug Avastin, between 2007 and 2012.
Elbit Medical Imaging Plan Pan-India World Class Standard Hospital
EMI, through its various activities in the field of medical devices and biotechnology, has ongoing relationships with numerous medical centers in Israel and abroad. It is anticipated that the new hospital chain will have close collaboration with both InSightec and Gamida Cell in the field of clinical trials and research and close ties with several medical centers in Israel and abroad for telemedicine, specialty treatments and training of personnel.
Bhagirathi Neotia Woman & Child Care Centre (BNWCCC) is Neotia's first healthcare venture. BNWCCC caters to specialties like high risk pregnancies, advanced laparoscopic surgeries, paediatric surgeries and treatment of very low birth-weight babies. The Centre has recently set up an infertility clinic named Genomee in collaboration with Herzliya Medical Centre of Israel.
Neurobiological Technologies and Nordmark Complete GMP Snake Facility
Neurobiological Technologies (NTI) completed construction of a snake facility in Moorrege, Germany, near Hamburg. The facility, owned and operated by NTI’s partner, Nordmark Arzneimittel, houses snakes that will provide the venom used to produce Viprinex, which is being studied by NTI as a potential treatment for acute ischemic stroke.
“A home was needed for the snakes used to produce Viprinex, and we decided with Nordmark that it was necessary to create one of the world’s few GMP facilities for reptiles,” says Paul E. Freiman, CEO of NTI. “This facility currently houses 100 snakes and is expected to eventually be home to 1,500 vipers.”
According to Freiman, the two companies shared the expense of this facility at a cost of €4.5 million.
Genzyme Oncology to Expand Facility in San Antonio’s Texas Research Park
A Preclinical Research Facility, scheduled for March 2007 completion, will be used to define pharmacological activity of new compounds.
Genzyme Oncology, one of the world's leading biotechnology companies, announced a $1.9 million renovation of its San Antonio facilities at the Texas Research Park in western Bexar County. Genzyme's expansion and enhancement plan creates four construction projects, bringing its total lease space to 21,000 square feet at the Texas Research Park.
The High Potency Lab, designed by Kell-Munoz Architects and managed by Metropolitan Contracting, requires special equipment to protect the researcher from exposure to toxic or potent compounds.
A Preclinical Research Facility, scheduled for March 2007 completion, will be used to define pharmacological activity of new compounds.
Genzyme, which has grown to more than 8,500 employees worldwide, was founded 25 years ago.
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