Dive Brief:
- UK-based GlaxoSmithKline is consolidating its drug R&D effort with a $250 million investment in the U.S. for building "smart labs" with updated technology in its existing Philadelphia-area operation, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Nov. 14. GSK's other large drug R&D hub will remain outside London.
- GSK's aim with its so-called smart space concept is to increase collaboration and bring a flood of new medicines to patients faster and more effectively, the company said.
- By 2018, nearly 40% of GSK's global pharmaceutical R&D workforce will be based in the Philadelphia area. Under GSK's redesign into "smart labs," the company's workforce there will expand from about 1,600 current employees to about 3,200 R&D workers relocating to Philadelphia from Upper Merion, Penn., and Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Dive Insight:
GSK plans to substantially renovate existing buildings on its 281-acre campus in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, said John Lepore, SVP of GSK's R&D pipeline to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Its 1.4 million square feet of labs, offices and manufacturing space there will focus on oncology, infectious disease, antibacterial, immuno-inflammation, dermatology and cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.
Earlier this year, GSK unveiled the smart space concept at its London area-based R&D facility. Dubbed Immersive Intelligent Manufacturing, the company's 7,500 square foot "smart space" facility includes advanced technology tools and a high-tech changing room to notify wearers about whether they have put on protective clothing correctly.
After the $70 billion merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham in 2000, the new GSK inherited a footprint of scattered R&D sites. And, with scientists in various places, "over time we realized that's not the most effective way of delivering innovation of the future," Lepore told The Inquirer.
Among reasons for investing in its Philadelphia-area operation are its proximity to the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and other academic institutions strong in cancer therapy work, alongside the region's general "biotech excellence," Lepore said. “"We look at Philadelphia as a very fertile place to be."
According to the California Life Sciences Association's annual industry report released Nov. 16, Pennsylvania ranked fifth in the nation for biopharma and medical device jobs as of 2015, with such jobs totaling about 35,500. That put Pennsylvania just ahead of Illinois and Massachusetts.