Biocentriq In Newark Wins NJ ‘Good Neighbor’ Award

NEWARK, NJ — A development project in Newark has been named as a “Good Neighbor” to the community as part of an annual award series.

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA) and its flagship publication, New Jersey Business magazine, recently released a list of 13 development projects honored in the 61th New Good Neighbor Awards.

This year’s honorees included BioCentriq in Newark. Here’s why, according to the NJBIA:

“BioCentriq was an endeavor by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to support innovation in New Jersey’s biopharma industry amid the meteoric rise of potential cell and gene therapies that are outpacing manufacturing processes and production capabilities in the state. It took 12 months and $7.5 million to renovate and rebuild the 3,200-square-foot Newark Campus Life Sciences Building – now the BioCentriq Cell and Development Center – into an ISO-7 certified GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) clinical manufacturing center. Soon after the center opened last October, the BioCentriq team began working with cell and gene therapy developers to guide them through the long laboratory bench-to-clinical trial process. Employees were hired to work in both the clinical production facility on NJIT’s Newark campus and in the pilot plant in South Brunswick.”

The architect for the project was NK Architects of Morristown. The builder was Gilbane Building Company of Newark.

Altogether, the 13 winning projects created $425 million in capital investment, with more than 5,100 permanent jobs and over 3,000 construction jobs, the NJBIA said.

“We congratulate the amazing people behind these projects – all of which make New Jersey a better place to live and work,” NJBIA president and CEO Michele Siekerka said.

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