Tim Doran / The Bulletin

Owner: Bend Research

Architect: Blaise Cacciola Architect

General Contractor: Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.

Details: The steel skeleton of a building visible from the Bend Parkway near the Empire Boulevard exit when complete will allow Bend Research to expand its drug development technology.

The company is building a two-story commercial-scale spray-dry dispersion facility. Spray-dry dispersion is a process that quickly turns a liquid compound into a powder that as a drug is easily absorbed into a person’s body, according to Bend Research.

“Our customers have been asking us to build this capability for some time,” company Vice President Tanya Hayden, director of clinical and commercial manufacturing, stated in an email. “With the new facility and some clever equipment innovation, we will more than double our current production capability.”

Bend Research undertook the expansion project in November 2013 after its acquisition by Capsugel. The new facility will allow Bend Research to complete a final stage of drug manufacture, a stage its customers must now take elsewhere, according to Hayden.

A city of Bend building permit valued the project at $2.3 million. The new building should be complete by April 15 and in use by the fourth quarter, said Chris Rogers, project manager for Bend Research.