ife sciences lab space is usually designed and built by a developer in hopes of recruiting scientists. Rarely do scientists have as much input as they are getting in a project set to get under way later this year in Hamilton, N.J. That's when site work is expected to begin on the Genesis Biotechnology Campus, which is being billed as a life science campus designed by scientists for scientists.
   Eventually set to max out at more than 400,000 sq. ft. (37,160 sq. m.) of lab space and amenities, the project is the brainchild of Dr. Eli Mordechai, CEO and founder of Medical Diagnostic Laboratories (MDL). It is designed to include the critical infrastructure needed by fledgling life sciences companies and scientists.
   "Dr. Mordechai wants to get together as many bright minds as possible in a research park to develop solutions to help the general population," says Michael Gale, MDL's director of operations and corporate development.
   Gale says MDL staff have been poring over every minute detail of the Genesis project with architects.
   "As scientists, we understand what it takes to get testing done that is accurate," Gale says. "We have spent hours and hours with architects and are involved in every detail. It has to be that way or we lose control of overall quality."
   Genesis' first tenants will be two of MDL's sister companies, Humigen and Virogen. Humigen, the Institute for Genetic Immunology, is a research company whose mission is to understand the relationship between human health, the genetics of the immune system and severity of disease. Humigen will occupy 40,000 sq. ft. (3,716 sq. m.) of the first building. Virogen, an MDL research subsidiary, which will occupy 20,000 sq. ft. (1,858 sq. m.), is not connected to a Massachusetts-based company of the same name.    Genesis will be built in two phases. The first phase will include 120,000 sq. ft. (111,150 sq. m.) of lab and office space. The second phase will include 260,000 sq. ft. (24,154 sq. m.) of lab and office space. When complete, the $150-million research park will employ between 600 and 1,000 scientists and other personnel.
   The project is now in the permitting phase. Gale says if site work begins as scheduled during the third quarter of 2008, the first phase could be completed by the first quarter of 2010. He says most of Genesis' tenants will likely be small companies just beyond the start-up stage. While there is no requirement for companies to be synergistic to the endeavors of MDL or its subsidiaries, Gale says the goal is to have collaborative relationships between tenants.
   "They will have gone through growing pains and have viable ideas, are able to make a living out of it and are looking to go to the next level," he says. "They will bring their ideas and staff into a suitable working environment."
   MDL's corporate headquarters and research facilities are located about a half mile from the 50-acre (20-hectare) Genesis site. The company, which employs about 325, was founded in 1998 and serves as a reference laboratory for DNA analysis. Its products include OneSwab, a specimen collection device for gynecology testing.
   Genesis is being marketed by Colliers Houston. Milton Charbonneau, chairman of Colliers' national life sciences practice, says the project is indeed unique.
   "This is one of the coolest things we are working on," Charbonneau says. "It's not being done by REITs, it's not being done by developers, it's actually being done by scientists. It's being designed as a knowledge center heavy on amenities. Working with knowledgeable scientists to create a perfect environment for research is an exciting task."
   Amenities at the park will include walking trails, a fitness center and eventually a daycare center.
   "Anybody can go build a research park, but when it is created by the actual scientists who are going to occupy the space, it has a different feel to it," Gale says. "It's more meaningful. It will be more of a community and will cater to the needs of scientists."    Lawrence Agulnick spent more than 15 years at the University City Science Center in Philadelphia, serving as chief of staff. That position provided him a key role in developing a supportive environment for biotech commercialization. Now, as COO of Cangen Biotechnologies, a young cancer-focused developer of diagnostic tests, Agulnick sees the advantage of locating in a university research park. That led Cangen to become one of the first tenants in the first building at The Science & Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, being developed by Forest City Enterprises.
   "We realized as a company that in the short term we would do much better to be in proximity to collaborators like Johns Hopkins," he says. "We looked at the resources that are available around a university research park such as access to post-docs, and access to talent, academic resources and equipment."
   Cangen plans to move into its new 12,500-sq.-ft. (1,161-sq.-m.) space in June with 15 employees. The company, founded in 2000, expects to commercialize its first product, a diagnostic test for bladder cancer, by the end of 2008, pending FDA approval.
   "What Forest City is doing is very important for Cangen," Agulnick says. "Our technology was developed at Johns Hopkins, which is very important to Baltimore and figured into my decision as well. Forest City is doing it the right way to make Baltimore develop as a hub of regional biotech activity."
   Cangen's technology was developed by Dr. David Sidranksy. Cangen's CEO, Dr. Chulso Moon, was also previously a professor, scientist and practicing physician specializing in cancer at Johns Hopkins.
   Agulnick says Cangen's new space can accommodate up to 40 people, a good thing as the company is anticipating substantial growth. The company has some well-known investors, including Mitsubishi and Fuji Film.
   The 31-acre (12.5-hectare) Science & Technology Park at Johns Hopkins will include 1.1 million sq. ft. (102,190 sq. m.) of lab and office space. The first building, which opened in April, has 278,000 sq. ft. (25,826 sq. m.) of lab and office space. Forest City's partner in the project is Presidential Partners, LLC, a minority-business consortium of Baltimore-based developers.
   Another company moving into the Johns Hopkins Park this summer is BioMarker Strategies, an early stage cancer diagnostics company, currently with just five employees. The company needed more space as it pushes its medical device toward commercialization.
   "New space versus renting existing space is an important question," says Scott Allocco, president of the company formed in 2006. "After several months of due diligence, we negotiated a lease. The deciding factors for us were the reputation of Forest City and the fact that it is new construction. It was also a matter of convenience due to our company founders being faculty members at Johns Hopkins and the fact that it gives us access to Johns Hopkins for sponsored research agreements."
   BioMarker Strategies' first product is called SnapPath, an acronym for quick pathology, which aims to improve analysis of solid tumor cells. The product is currently undergoing clinical trials, and Allocco says it is at least three years from commercialization.
   "The Baltimore market, given the number of academic and medical institutions and the size of them, provides a significant available labor pool of scientists and researchers," Allocco says. "We are confident the Baltimore market with its growing biotech base will create a vibrant market for potential employees. The issue of growth is important, given our potential to grow in the near term. We are optimistic about being able to expand our lab space either in this building or the next one, which is about to go under development."
   Across town from Johns Hopkins, the BioPark at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, dedicated its second building and broke ground for the third in early April. Moving into the second building later this year is Paragon Bioservices, a contract research company for pharmaceutical and biotech firms. Paragon has been located in Johns Hopkins' Bayview Campus since it was founded in 1990.
   "It was a matter of certain important features converging at the same time," says Paragon CEO Marco Chacon of the planned move to UMB. "We pretty much outgrew our space, and we had a need for expansion. Eighty-five percent of our revenue comes from pharma and biotech, and has been increasing steadily over the last year. We have been the beneficiary of those trends, and with that came our need for expansion."
   Chacon says the Bayview site did not have room for expansion. As Paragon's site search began, Chacon learned of UMB's BioPark plan. Work on UMB's BioPark preceded the new Johns Hopkins park, so the latter was not an option at the time Paragon began its search.
   Chacon says he hopes Paragon can reproduce the success it had at Bayview, or enhance it, at UMB. He anticipates that Paragon will move into its new 21,000-sq.-ft. (1,950-sq.-m.) space near the end of the year.
   The UMB BioPark, which like the Johns Hopkins park is being marketed by Colliers, will eventually include 10 buildings. The first three will house about 1,000 workers when fully occupied.    Kannapolis, N.C., once the world's towel manufacturing capital, will soon be a hub of biotech activity. Billionaire David Murdock's pet biotech project, the $1.5-billion North Carolina Research Campus, snared a major tenant in April as PPD, a global contract research organization based in Wilmington, N.C., announced plans to create 200 to 300 clinical research jobs over a two- to three-year period. PPD will occupy 40,000 sq. ft. (3,716 sq. m.) and will co-locate with Carolinas Healthcare System in the Medical Office Building.
   Fred Eschelman, CEO of PPD, said a meeting with Murdock, chairman of real estate firm Castle & Cooke and Dole Food Co., convinced him that NCRC was the place for PPD to expand.
   NCRC's Core Lab, a 311,000-sq.-ft. (28,890-sq.-m.) facility, will be the first building on the campus to be completed. It is scheduled to open in August. NCRC will eventually be home to 1 million square feet (92,900 sq. m.) of office and lab space.
   The David H. Murdock Core Laboratory, to be owned by a public charity created and funded by Murdock, will focus on research in molecular genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics.
   The NCRC is rising on the former site of Pillowtex Corporation, once the world's leading towel manufacturer. Pillowtex went out of business in 2003, putting 4,000 people out of work. Murdock once owned Pillowtex predecessor Cannon Mills.    North Carolina's life sciences industry, which employs about 48,000, will be further supported with the opening of two major biotechnology training centers.
   The 82,500-sq.-ft. (7,664-sq.-m.) Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training & Education Center opened at N.C. State University last September. BTEC, equipped with commercial-scale equipment to provide specialized education and training, will serve 2,000 students when fully operational.
   NCSU will offer at BTEC a new biomanufacturing sciences minor, a new degree program in bioprocessing sciences, and a new degree in biomanufacturing sciences within chemical and biomolecular engineering majors. BTEC also has a contract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to design, develop and deliver pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing training for its inspectors.
   BTEC will collaborate with the Biotechnology Research Institute and Technology Enterprise (BRITE) at N.C. Central University. BRITE opened a 52,000-sq.-ft. (4,830-sq.-m.) laboratory and classroom building in February for degree programs in pharmaceutical science.    South Florida's burgeoning biotech sector, set to grow with the projected 2009 opening of the Scripps Florida campus in Jupiter, has an even greater project in the works.
   The University of Miami is planning an ambitious 1.4-million-sq.-ft. (130,060-sq.-m.) Life Sciences Park on a seven-acre (2.8-hectare) tract adjacent to the university's Miller School of Medicine.
   The project, to be located along I-95, is in the early planning stages as the university is lining up investors. The university is currently working with architects, and university officials expect work to begin on the project within two to three years.