Northfield To Buy Manufacturing Facility

Northfield Laboratories, Inc. signed an agreement with First Industrial, L.P., to purchase the building it currently leases in Mt. Prospect, IL for $6.7 million. The transaction is scheduled to close in late June, subject to customary terms and conditions.

This 106,000-sq.-ft. property will be used for the company’s first planned commercial facility for the manufacture of PolyHeme, a human hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier, and to house laboratory, quality, and administrative personnel. Engineering and size optimization activities for the space are underway. It is expected that the facility will be capable of producing approximately 100,000 units or more of PolyHeme annually. The company has indicated that the major capital expenditure associated with this expansion will not occur until topline data from the current trauma trial has been analyzed and reported, which is expected this fall.

“Purchasing the building where we will manufacture PolyHeme is a major step toward realizing our commercialization plans,” said Steven A. Gould, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer. “Owning the space allows us the autonomy and flexibility we need to meet the anticipated market demand for a product that has the potential to sustain lives that otherwise might be lost.”

The company also announced that enrollment is nearing completion in its Phase III trauma study. Approximately 700 patients of the planned total of 720 have been enrolled at Level I trauma centers across the U.S.