Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. said Tuesday that a top 20 pharmaceutical company and longstanding credit tenant has increased its San Diego footprint by nearly 53%. The tenant has signed a 10-year lease for 127,382 square feet, with significant expansion options, for a new R&D center at 10075 Barnes Canyon Rd. on the SD Tech by Alexandria mega campus in the Sorrento Mesa submarket of San Diego. 

With this anchor lease, the 253,079-square-foot development, which is targeting LEED Gold Core & Shell and Fitwel certifications, is now 70% leased ahead of its anticipated initial delivery in 2025. The lease also brings Alexandria’s 1.2-million-square-foot pipeline of under-construction mega campus development projects in San Diego to 94% leased.

Having entered the San Diego market in June 1994, Alexandria has been a key player in the development, expansion and transformation of the region into one of the nation’s top life science clusters. As of this past March, its operational San Diego portfolio was 95.2% occupied.

Pharmaceutical company Kyowa Kirin plans to invest up to $530 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Sanford, North Carolina. The 171,700-square-foot, two-reactor facility will accelerate the company’s development and production of biologic therapies for patients with rare and serious diseases.

The 75-acre campus at Helix Innovation Park at The Brickyard will allow for future expansion. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in the second half of 2024 and become fully operational in 2027. Kyowa Kirin’s investment of up to $530 million will be supported by performance-based state and local incentives to Kyowa Kirin of $10 million over 12 years. The plant will create more than 100 new local jobs at an average salary of $91,496. 

Kyowa Kirin hopes to capitalize on a network of biomanufacturing resources and a rich pool of talent within the greater Research Triangle Park region, which is home to renowned universities and community colleges that provide specialized curricula and training.

German syringe maker Schott Pharma is going ahead with a $371 million manufacturing plant in Wilson, North Carolina, 50 miles east of Raleigh. The investment will add over 400 jobs to the region.

The new site will expand the U.S. supply chain for in-demand syringes that deliver injectable medicines, vaccines, and other fields of applications, allowing SCHOTT Pharma to triple its contribution of glass and polymer syringes to the U.S. market by 2030.

Schott’s Christopher Cassidy added, “Wilson County stood out in a nationwide search for a number of reasons, particularly for its favorable pool of local talent and its proximity to the Research Triangle area, which hosts numerous universities, healthcare companies, and biopharma resources.” North Carolina supported SCHOTT’s expansion with $21 million in local and state incentive awards.

The project is expected to break ground by the end of the year, with a completion date sometime in 2027.

A lot is known about the requirements of a Japanese life sciences project slated for Sanford, NC. Besides the expected investment by the company, it will create over 100 jobs at a new industrial park on 70 acres at Helix Innovation Park at the Brickyard. What’s not known is the name of the company. The Sanford City Council is set to vote on more than $3.86 million in incentives for the development.

Besides the city inducements, the Charlotte Business Journal reports the state is likely to give incentives to the project following approval of local incentives from Sanford City Council.

Sanford has drawn interest from other pharmaceutical firms. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) operates a gene therapy manufacturing operation in Sanford and has also committed to expanding in the town. The drugmaker said the plant would employ about 300 people by 2025, growing the company’s headcount in North Carolina to more than 4,500 workers.

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