Houston biotech Bellicum 27,000-SF manufacturing facility

HOUSTON – Houston-based Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently entered a five-year lease agreement to operate 27,000 sf in Life Science Plaza — located at 2130 West Holcombe Blvd. — to build a manufacturing facility.

Bellicum will convert the top floor of the building’s parking garage to manufacturing space that will be used to advance the company’s clinical trials of its cancer treatment drugs, said Alan Musso, CFO of Bellicum.

If all goes according to plan, the bulk of the project should be completed by year end, with the facility coming online early 2016. The company has allocated approximately $11 million to the project, Musso said.

It will be owned by Sheridan Hills Development LP, the landlord, according to an SEC filing.

The new space is in addition to the expansion plans Bellicum currently has underway to expand to the entire floor in the Life Science Plaza building adjacent to the Texas Medical Center, where its headquarters is located.

The expansion will allow Bellicum to take its manufacturing in-house. Previously, the company used external contract manufacturers for production.

Now, as Bellicum begins to enter further clinical trials, the new space will make the entire process more efficient, Musso said.