Princeton-based and nationally known Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co. will announce Wednesday morning that it will combine with two other specialized firms to create Rapid Reshore & Development — a firm created to provide professional services for the fast-moving life sciences and biopharmaceutical industries.
BLS will join with Facility Logix of Burtonsville, Maryland, and EwingCole of New York City to create a firm they feel will address many of the logistical challenges facing companies developing drugs, vaccines and medical devices.
Life sciences and biopharmaceutical companies are pivoting to increase efficiency and capacity in record time, which requires quicker decision-making, retooling facilities, increasing capacity and shoring up resources.
RR&D officials said they hope to optimize the speed-to-market process by aligning and accelerating all steps in this complex process, from upfront planning and programming; scenario development and analysis; due diligence of talent market, new facility consideration and comparative costs; early conceptual designs; and competitive real estate procurement, through full design/engineering and project management.
BLS Executive Managing Director Jay Biggins said the firm will be a new entity — but stressed that BLS would continue to exist on its own.
Biggins told ROI-NJ the market was the impetus for creating RR&D.
“We expect there to be a significant increase in near-shoring and reshoring of various components of the life sciences supply chain, subject to federal trade and incentives policies,” he said. “The resulting projects will vary but most will share an urgency in getting products to market. This challenge calls for a holistic end-to-end process, from planning through execution.”
Biggins feels joining with Facility Logix and EwingCole will be a value add.
“BLS first concentrates on the crucial front end — a rigorous, well-documented process for finding and choosing the optimal locations, informed by the work of Facility Logix in defining what facilities are needed to fulfill the client’s strategy, while Ewing Cole is conceptualizing the facility design,” he said. “Coordinating these simultaneous workstreams saves time, cost and produces a better decision.”
Ewing Cole CEO Jared Loos agreed.
“Our rapidly changing world created a multitude of challenges and opportunities across all industries,” he said. “However, few face logistical obstacles like the life sciences and manufacturing sectors, including biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical equipment and their respective supply chains. Our goal was to create an alliance that can collaboratively and succinctly support their needs from start to finish.”
Facility Logix founder and President Pat Larrabee said the industry needs more than cookie-cutter solutions.
“It requires a holistic, tailor-made approach that involves multiple firms,” he said. “RR&D breaks from tradition to integrate an entire, full-service team to provide end-to-end solutions for clients through a single, coordinated effort that helps ensure certainty of execution.
“This comprehensive approach enables us to deliver the depth and resources of a full-service firm with the expertise of a specialist.”
Biggins said BLS has long had an established national reputation in life sciences, going back to early biologics projects in the Boston market in 2005, continuing with additional manufacturing, translational R&D and other specialized operations focusing on diverse locations including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia and Texas, as well as offshore markets
“COVID-19 has created a greater need for these companies to establish and build out facilities, supply chains and other resources within a reduced timeframe,” he said. “On top of the day-to-day development of life-saving therapies and technologies, this may result in an industry bottleneck. That’s where RR&D can assist.”
