Speed to market is always a critical design driver in the life sciences industry.

This was especially true as the science community focused on developing and manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine. “Pharmaceutical leaders are looking for innovative delivery solutions that will accelerate the design and construction process to achieve the radical schedule reductions required to get lifesaving products to market,” says Mark Butler, president and managing director-Americas for IPS-Integrated Project Services.

Key measures to radically reduce design and construction schedules include the following:

• Understand why—decision-making drivers.
• Consider integrated delivery versus traditional design-bid-build.
• Utilize EPCM savvy.
• Incorporate pre-engineered components.
• Increase the modularity of labs.
• Improve quality control and emphasize cleaner, safer job sites.
• Strategize to accommodate change.

"It has become vitally important to reduce the time it takes to bring potential vaccines to market. These strategies can accelerate the design and construction process for research and manufacturing facilities and more quickly get lifesaving drugs to the patients who need them,“ Butler says.

Read more in Spotlight on Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical Building