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Biotech company Amgen unveiled a plan Tuesday to make a $600M investment in building a science and innovation center at its Thousand Oaks, California, headquarters.
The announcement comes amid a slowdown of funding from the National Institutes of Health, dealing painful blows to university research programs and projects and the private sector.
"This new center will empower our scientists with the tools and collaborative environment they need to shape the next era of scientific discovery and advance medicines that improve human health," Amgen CEO Robert A. Bradway said in a release.
The multidisciplinary center will "enhance collaboration and accelerate the discovery of next-generation therapeutics," according to the release.
The new development will replace what the company refers to as Building 14. That building is among the older structures on the campus and is unused now, Amgen spokesperson Elissa Snook told Bisnow in an email. The company is calling the new $600M center Building 50.
Specifics about the project's size and height weren't shared, and a contractor has yet to be chosen. Demolition will be completed by union labor, Snook said. Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of the year.
Earlier this summer, Amgen announced a $900M expansion of its manufacturing facility near Columbus, Ohio, and late last year, it announced a $1B manufacturing plant in North Carolina.
Life sciences real estate remains soft across the country and in Southern California, but pharmaceutical companies are among those tenants that are expanding.
Build-to-suit and renovation projects are among those being completed amid sluggish demand and a glut of available space.
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