NOVO Construction Completes Gene Therapy Plant for BioMarin

NOVATO, CA –

BioMarin celebrated its 20th anniversary by announcing the opening of their new Gene Therapy plant located in Novato, California. NOVO Construction was honored to partner with BioMarin and our Design-Build Architectural, Engineering and Subcontractor teams to successfully design and construct this best in class project.

The project was highly schedule driven for BioMarin and required precise planning during the preconstruction process.

“Timing was the highest priority all the way through this project and we didn’t have a lot of time to bring contractors on. We brought NOVO on in late July 2016 by the end of August we were already into design and demolition phase, so we had all the key contractors within a month. It’s busy here in the Bay Area, and you can’t just call up someone to do work, so NOVO utilized their relationships in the Bay Area to secure contractors for the project,” said Carl Albertson, Director of Capital Projects at BioMarin.

A typical duration for a project of this scale should have been 18-months while this project was completed in 11-months from concept through commissioning.

“You would imagine a job of this nature, as fast as it was, challenges would arise. Whether it was waiting on permits, dealing with bad weather, timing of contractors working in the same space, NOVO handled it sensationally and did whatever it took to stay on schedule,” stated Albertson.

During the construction process at any given time there were 150-200 tradesmen working in BioMarin’s space.

“You put 150 contractors into that tight of a space, and it requires detailed coordination and that success goes to the NOVO team,” said Albertson.

The facility is now one of the largest gene therapy manufacturing facilities in the world and will to support Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) production of BMN 270 (drug therapy for the treatment of Hemophilia A) which is anticipated to commence imminently to support ongoing clinical development activities and for anticipated commercial demand.

“This project was unique for us in a lot of ways. It encompassed capabilities that we have never done before from a technology standpoint. NOVO’s hard work and dedication to this project was key in the success to this project. We will definitely be using them again for other large scale projects of this nature.”

Founded in 2000 NOVO Construction is a General Contractor in the Bay Area, specializing in Life Science, Corporate Interiors, Data Centers, and Manufacturing construction management. More information can be found online at www.novoconstruction.com