EXTON, Pa., July 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Morphotek®, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., announced today that it has achieved LEED® certification for its new 60,000-square-foot pilot plant facility located in Exton, Pennsylvania.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a voluntary, consensus-based, market-driven program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council that provides third-party verification of green buildings. The LEED Green Building Rating System assesses the way buildings are designed, constructed and operated. For a commercial building to earn LEED certification, a project must satisfy all LEED prerequisites and earn a minimum number of points on the LEED rating system, which consists of the following categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation and Design Process, and Regional Priority.

"Morphotek should be extremely proud of this achievement. Their passion and commitment to sustainability helps to establish a new standard for their industry and demonstrates remarkable green building leadership," said Brian Falcon, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, of Arcus Design Group – Architects, Inc. Falcon served as the LEED Project Architect for the pilot plant.

As part of Morphotek's commitment to environmental stewardship, the project team for the pilot plant made LEED certification a high priority in the programming process. The company also implemented Integrated Project Delivery and Building Information Modeling to prioritize sustainable choices early in the schematic design and ensure cost efficiency.

The project included the clean-up of a previously developed brownfield site, and utilized much of the infrastructure of the old buildings in the new plant. As a result, ninety-two percent of construction waste was diverted from landfills. In addition, all asphalt and masonry from existing demolished buildings were crushed and reused on site.

The building envelope incorporates prefabricated metal panels, advanced insulation, and architectural elements to control solar gain. Zoned lighting with occupancy sensors, solar tubes and strategic placement of open and private offices maximize daylight exposure. Increased ventilation and low-emitting materials improve employee comfort. 

The facility was designed to be 33.2 percent more energy efficient than a standard code compliant pharmaceutical building. An 84 kW PV system is expected to generate 100,000 kW per year.

The plant is also designed to be water efficient, utilizing water-efficient landscaping and naturalized bio-retention areas to treat storm water. In all, it is expected to be 30 percent more efficient than base case, saving approximately two million gallons annually. 

About Morphotek, Inc.

Morphotek^®, Inc., a subsidiary of Eisai Inc., is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of protein and antibody products through the use of a novel and proprietary gene evolution technology. The technology has been successfully applied to a broad variety of cell lines and organisms to yield genetically diverse offspring that are suitable for pharmaceutical product development in the areas of antibody therapeutics, protein therapeutics, product manufacturing, drug target discovery, and improved output traits for commercial applications. The company is currently focusing its platform on the development and manufacturing of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and infectious disease. For more information, please visit www.morphotek.com.  

About Eisai Inc.

At Eisai Inc., human health care is our goal. We give our first thoughts to patients and their families, and helping to increase the benefits health care provides. As the U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Tokyo-based Eisai Co., Ltd., our passionate commitment to patient care is the driving force behind our efforts to help address unmet medical needs. We are a fully integrated pharmaceutical business with discovery, clinical, manufacturing and marketing capabilities. Our key areas of commercial focus include oncology and specialty care (Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and metabolic disorders). To learn more about Eisai Inc., please visit us at www.eisai.com/US.  

Eisai Inc. has affiliates that are part of a global product creation organization that includes R&D facilities in Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, as well as a global demand chain organization that includes manufacturing facilities in Maryland and North Carolina. Eisai's global areas of R&D focus include neuroscience; oncology; metabolic disorders; vascular, inflammatory and immunological reaction; and antibody-based programs.

SOURCE Morphotek Inc.