IPS, Meyer Deliver $800M Biopharma R&D Project

January 22, 2025

News Development Featured Northeast More Office

This marks one of the country’s largest investments in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

In one of the largest recent investments in biopharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S., global oncology company BeiGene has completed its $800 million, 400,000-square-foot biologics manufacturing and clinical development center in Hopewell, N.J.

BeiGene’s $800 million biologics manufacturing and clinical development center in Hopewell, N.J. *Image by Jeffrey Totaro, courtesy of IPS and Meyer*

The campus is BeiGene’s U.S, flagship facility and its first U.S. manufacturing site. The other two are in Guangzhou and Suzhou, China. The company does have several U.S. offices in Cambridge, Mass.; Ridgefield, N.J.; Fulton, Md.; San Mateo, Calif.; and Emeryville, Calif.

IPS-Integrated Project Services LLC, a provider of engineering, procurement, construction management and validation services, and Meyer, a national architecture and design firm, played integral roles in the development and delivery of the three-year Hopewell project that expands BeiGene’s integrated manufacturing and research and development footprint in the U.S.

Located on a 42-acre property at the 433-acre Princeton West Innovation Campus, the state-of-the-art facility provides flexibility for BeiGene to scale production of its cancer medicines. The company aims to create hundreds of new high-tech jobs at the site by the end of 2025.

The campus features the most advanced technology in the biopharmaceutical industry with the ability to expand to 1 million square feet over time. The end-to-end manufacturing capabilities create cost, speed and technology advantages as well as supply chain resiliency.

Lab interior at BeiGene’s biologics manufacturing and clinical development center in Hopewell, N.J. *Image by Jeffrey Totaro, courtesy of IPS and Meyer*

As lead campus architect, IPS led the design and delivery of the campus, including the biopharmaceutical manufacturing and utilities facilities as well as critical technical systems. The company also ensured the project met strict regulatory requirements.

Meyer provided ground-up architecture and interior design services along with overall campus design support for the 100,000-square-foot office and lab building, a cafeteria and on-site café. The new facility combines office and lab functions. It also includes critical mechanical and utilities systems needed to support BeiGene’s clinical R&D capabilities.

Other project partners included developer Lincoln Equities Group, structural engineer Mainstay Engineering Group, civil engineer Van Note-Harvey Associates and construction manager DPR Construction.

Centrally located campus

BeiGene acquired the site from Lincoln Equities Group in November 2021 and broke ground on the project in April 2022. Lincoln Equities Group and H.I.G. purchased the Princeton West Innovation Campus in 2020 from former owner, Bristol-Myers Squibb, which had made more than $500 million in capital improvements before the sale.

The Mercer County campus is centrally located between New York City and Philadelphia less than 5 miles from I-295, which provides access to I-95. The campus has more than 30 buildings including biological product development and clinical manufacturing facilities, R&D assets, office buildings, a data center, conference center, fitness center, child development center and parking garage.

In addition to BeiGene, other companies located at Princeton West Innovation Campus include Enzene Biosciences, Gennao, GenScript ProBio and PTC Therapeutics. The campus has space available for lease as well as development rights and build-to-suit opportunities.

New Jersey’s top life science market

One of the top 10 life science clusters in the U.S. as ranked by JLL, New Jersey’s market includes more than 12 million square feet. Of the top 20 pharma companies, 14 are located in New Jersey and eight of the top 10 R&D companies are also in the state, according to Newmark’s third-quarter life science market report for Northern New Jersey. The report noted demand for available lab space exceeded 1 million square feet as of late last year.

Several significant life science deals have been announced at other New Jersey life science campuses in recent years In November, Revlon chose a 62,000-square-foot space at The Northeast Science and Technology Center in Kenilworth, N.J., for a science and innovation lab. NEST is a 100+acre campus dedicated to research and development innovations owned by a joint venture of Onyx Equities and Machine Investment Group. The JV acquired the campus from Merck, which moved out of all the campus buildings except one. Revlon said the facility’s existing lab infrastructure played a key role in its decision to lease space at the NEST.

Meanwhile, HELIX Health + Life Science Exchange, a 4-acre innovation district built by SJP Properties and New Brunswick Development Corp. near Rutgers University in downtown New Brunswick, N.J., is scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2026. The 1.2 million-square-foot project will house the New Jersey Innovation HUB and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.