ABC Laboratories, Pharmaceutical Facility, Discovery Ridge, Missouri, USA

Analytical Bio-Chemistry (ABC) Laboratories Inc is a major privately owned contract research organisation in the US. The company is a fully GLP- and CGMP-compliant product development partner, which has been active in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries since 1968. 2008 is the company's 40th anniversary.

ABC Laboratories provides a range of expert analytical chemistry services and product development from initial product and process development through clinical trials and up to post commercialisation activities. The company made a decision in May 2006 to transfer its pharmaceutical service activities from its original Columbia-based site to a new custom-constructed 90,000ft² laboratory facility on a 11.5-acre site in the new 114-acre Discovery Ridge Research Park.

The ABC Laboratories plot has been leased from the University of Missouri for 99 years at a cost of $15m and the company is the first tenant on the site). The existing 56-acre campus will be retained and the facilities refurbished to remain as the centre of the company's chemical services division.

The company, which employs 300 personnel, has seen an increase in sales since 2003 from $14.4m to $27.1m in 2007; sales are expected to be $50m by 2010.

The new laboratory facility will double the company's capacity and give ABC the space it requires for the growth that is expected in the period from 2008 to beyond 2010.

ACTIVITIES

The extensive facilities at the new Discovery Ridge Research Park are expected to be occupied in summer 2008. ABC's move began in April 2008 and will take four months. The facilities will include a new CGMP analytical services unit for method development and a range of CMC-related studies (extractables-leachables studies and stability programmes).

There will also be a separate GLP laboratory to expand DMPK (Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics) and bioanalytical testing services that support clinical development from Phase 0 microdosing studies using radio-labelling synthesis through to Phase III clinical trials.

CONSTRUCTION

The main general contractor of the new facility was ARCO Construction who also provided civil engineering services. Ground breaking occurred on 21st March 2007. The architect for the project was ACI Boland Architects. $10m of the contract went to local contractors.

Other contractors include Philips Grading (earthwork and foundation services); Christensen Construction (asphalt paving/road construction); Tiger Fencing (security installations); Rost Landscaping; Central Concrete (concrete supply); Chillicothe Iron Steel (structural steel), A and H Erection (structural steel assembly); Missouri Builders Service (architectural facade sheet metal); Negwer Materials (drywalling supply); Watkins Roofing (roof and drain installation); Smarr Garage Doors (dock doors); Boone County Millwork (door furniture and doors); Columbia Glass and Mirror (glazing supplies); Johnson Decorating (window treatment); Midstate Petroleum (underground waste storage tank); Environmental Engineering (mechanical services); Hullet Heating and Air Conditioning; Meyer Electric; CLEL Containers (container services) and Woodley Building Maintenance.

CONCESSIONS

The Boone County Commission has awarded ABC Labs a $1.55m rebate on property taxes over a ten-year period for the new facility. The concession is part of an effort to keep and attract manufacturing businesses to the region.

The county is using a tax incentive known as the Chapter 100 policy. This means that the county issued revenue bonds to allow the company to finance $15m in equipment and land/buildings. The agreement means that the county effectively owns the property and is leasing it back to ABC Labs, meaning that it is exempt from taxes. ABC Labs will then pay 50% of what it would have paid in taxes to the county for ten years.

ABC will, however, pay its full share of the county commercial property surtax, which is 61 cents per every $100 of assessment. The company must create 50 jobs over the next ten years to receive the full benefit. Projections indicate the new facility will provide at least 250 jobs.

ABC Labs will also reassign to the city credits on state taxes it will receive through the Business Use Incentives for Large-scale Development programme (BUILD programme). BUILD allows the Missouri Development Finance Board to grant tax credits to "reduce necessary infrastructure and equipment expenses" for extensive business projects that demonstrate a need for funding.

FEATURES

The new building will have 60,000ft² of analytical lab and support space and also 30,000ft² of office space. Each of the lab modules will have an accompanying office outside, and the lab space will be mobile so that research equipment can be moved for expansions and new equipment to be installed.

The building has been positioned to allow an additional 33,000ft² to be added if required. There will be four labs at the building's core, with 25 fume hoods for ventilation. In addition, there will be a storage suite to set up a wide range of controlled environmental conditions for pharmaceutical product stability testing, a central power centre for the control of electrical, ionised water and high-purity gas piping, a 1,600ft² blast-resistant chemical storage room equipped with 8in concrete walls and an underground 5,000gal containment tank.

ABC is keen on transparency for its activities, so there will be an interior window system for tours around the facility. The natural light of the building is maximised by perimeter windows and there are additional security and environmental features such as occupancy sensor lights, card readers to monitor employee location, chemical and stain-resistant Medintech flooring and Trespa work surfaces. The computer server room has a specially designed HFC 125 fire support system, which uses chemical-charged bottles to suck the oxygen from the room in the event of fire.