IBO’s first report of 2016 for new laboratories outlines the construction and opening of labs in various sectors, including government, academia and biotechnology. On page 4, a table detailing the establishment of selected labs can be found, including new labs in the pharmaceutical industry.

Government

Various countries in Asia have broken ground on or approved the construction of new labs, including India and Bhutan. In an effort to meet construction deadlines, the Indian government is increasing cost estimates for the construction of five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) by INR 2,299 crore ($342.8 million = INR 67.1 = $1) to total INR 4,799 crore ($725.4 million). IISERs are currently under construction in Kolkata, Pune, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram. The cost hike is intended to hasten the pace of construction so the IISERs can be functional by 2018 to 2019. All institutes will house 9,275 under- and post-graduate students, 928 faculty members and 1,020 nonteaching staff on their campuses, and will promote interdisciplinary research with other national laboratories and research institutes.

India also collaborated with Bhutan through the Project Tied Assistance from Government of India initiative. At Serbithang in Thimphu, Bhutan, the Royal Centre for Disease Control was opened late last year, a BTN 320 million ($4.8 million = BTN 66.1 = $1) building serving as a revamped version of the Public Health Laboratory in Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital. The three-story building can hold up to 400 employees and features a Biosafety Level 3 lab that prevents air leakages and is built according to World Health Organization standards. The ground floor is for cold storage. The Centre researches on health and disease control, and managing pathogenic viruses like Ebola.

In the US, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Integrative Genomics Building (IGB) is expected to break ground in summer 2016 in Berkeley, California. The 80,000 ft² (7,432 m²) building will house a research laboratory with a capacity for over 300 inhabitants in wet and dry lab space, as well as offices for researchers and managers, a computer center, and warm and cold rooms for research purposes. The IGB will be the new home for the Joint Genome Institute and the Systems Biology Knowledgebase, both part of the DOE.

Academia

Also in California, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) has approved plans to move forward with constructing a new neuroscience building. UCSF is receiving $21 million of campus funds from the Regents Committee on Grounds and Buildings to begin the groundwork for the new building. At 270,000 ft² (25,084 m²), the new facility will combine psychiatric and neuroscience research departments to find new treatments for various brain and nervous system disorders. It will include wet and dry research labs on the same floor to increase efficiency in collaborative research, and will also contain neurology outpatient clinics and wet lab space for UCSF’s psychiatry department.

In Maryland, the state is spending $162 million on a 220,000 ft² (20,439 m²) Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Education Building at Universities at Shady Grove, an association made up of nine Maryland universities. Slated to open by fall 2018, construction will begin this June. A $20 million parking garage has already been built. The Biomedical Building will provide four new degree programs to address the state’s need for STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Medical) workers: Engineering: Mixed Signals and Embedded Systems; Engineering: Mechatronics; Information Science; and Translational Life Science Technology.

Last month, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the construction of Harvard University’s Life Lab. The 15,000 ft² (1,394 m²) building is expected to open this fall, and will provide educational and career development prospects to Harvard students and faculty who are interested in establishing life science and biotechnology startup companies. The Life Lab will also offer a fully equipped lab. The facility has been constructed in a way that allows for a potential relocation within the next 5 to 10 years. Located on Harvard’s Allston campus, the Life Lab is intended to help create a flourishing life sciences and biotech community in the city.

Biotechnology

Eli Lilly is adding 30,000 ft² (2,787 m²) of lab space to its research operations in New York City, NY, including a new lab scheduled for completion sometime this year. The newly added infrastructure will create 50 research jobs. Eli Lilly intends to construct a center dedicated to research in translational immune-oncology that will be a “portal” for collaboration with academic researchers as well as other biopharmaceutical companies. The new lab is expected to be completed sometime this year.

In San Diego, California, OncoSec combined three of its offices into a single main office and Discovery Research facility. The 34,000 ft² (3,159 m²) building contains recycled materials, an irrigation system using recycled water and vegetation able to withstand drought. Almost 15,000 ft² (1,394 m²) is dedicated to fully equipped lab space, with benches and strategically placed instruments to increase workflow and decrease disruptions. The lab will enable OncoSec to further its research in developing DNA-based intratumoral immunotherapies for cancer.

In Oxfordshire, England, Adaptimmune broke ground on a new R&D facility in late 2015. Scheduled for completion this year, the 67,000 ft² (6,225 m²) “Enterprise Zone” building will house lab and office space, meeting rooms and a café for 200 R&D specialists. Adaptimmune signed a 25-year lease with London-based developer MEPC, which owns Milton Park, the location of the new R&D building. The facility is intended to accelerate research on the use of T-cell therapies for fighting cancer.