Biotech Company Ramps Up In Palm Beach County, Takes 19,000 SF

NAI/Merin Hunter Codman, Inc. has negotiated a lease for Biotest Pharmaceuticals to take the full 19,000 square feet of a flex-office property in Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
Biotest Pharmaceuticals is a subsidiary of Biotest AG, a German-based global provider of plasma protein products. Biotest Pharmaceuticals researches and manufactures bio-therapeutic products with a specialization in immunology and hematology, including a groundbreaking product rich in antibodies to the hepatitis B virus, and another in the pipeline to combat hepatitis C.
The new lease in Royal Palm Beach brings this cutting edge biotechnology to central Palm Beach County; while there is a large life sciences cluster in northern county around Jupiter, this lease points toward clusters expanding geographically, like “spokes in the wheels,” according to NAI/Merin Hunter Codman Chairman, Neil E. Merin.
Merin was instrumental in originally drawing Scripps Research Institute to Jupiter, which was followed by the opening late last year in Jupiter of the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Germany’s leading research organization which has produced 17 Nobel laureates.
“This is an exciting era for Palm Beach County as we attract world-class life sciences and biotech companies to the area,” said Jordan Paul, CEO of NAI/Merin Hunter Codman. “Increasingly, our firm is receiving leasing inquiries from companies in those fields. NAI/Merin Hunter Codman has more depth of property offerings in the county than any other brokerage firm, so we’re well-positioned to oil the wheels to keep this technology coming to the region.”
Biotest Pharmaceuticals owns and manages centers across the U.S. involved in “plasmapheresis,” a blood purification procedure used to treat a number of autoimmune diseases. The firm employs more than 650 people in the U.S., including operating a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Boca Raton, Florida. Among its products is BIVIGAM™, an immune globulin intravenous product, which boosts the body’s natural response to those with weakened immune systems. Its Nabi-HB® product is a hyperimmune globulin that is rich in antibodies to the hepatitis B virus. Likewise, a product that contains antibodies against the hepatitis C virus product is in the pipeline, and pre-clinical studies confirm its ability to neutralize the C virus.
Biotest Pharmaceutical’s new center in Royal Palm Beach,  which will have activities including plasma collection at the facility, will be located at 100 Business Parkway and have back-up generators for uninterrupted continuity of operations.
“This is an ideal property for Biotest Pharmaceuticals given that it’s freestanding, has great accessibility, and is adjacent to highly educated communities from which Biotest can look to draw professional talent,” added Bruce Corn, Managing Director at NAI/Merin Hunter Codman. Corn, together with Barbara Le Brun, Director at NAI/Merin Hunter Codman, negotiated the lease on behalf of the building owner, Royal Palm Capital Realty LLC. Ten years ago, Le Brun sold Royal Palm Capital the land on which the current building now stands, and she commented that “medical use is the perfect fit.” The negotiations she and Corn spearheaded included working with Biotest both in the U.S. and Germany. DTZ represented Biotest Pharmaceuticals.
Biotest Pharmaceutical will occupy 100 Business Parkway in two phases. It will occupy 12,000 square feet beginning October 1, 2013 and begin a major build-out to its exacting technology specifications. The remaining 7,000 square feet will be occupied in November.
In response to life sciences and biotech firms such as Biotest increasingly drawn to Palm Beach County, there is a commensurate increased focus on higher education to produce more “home-grown” talent in those fields. Three Florida universities recently teamed to form a “Life Sciences Industry Cluster Analytics Group,” composed of key pharmaceutical, medical devices, and biotechnology companies. A key aim is determining how to more closely align education/workforce training programs to meet the needs of the research and development of the life sciences cluster in Florida.