In the fall of 2018, Binghamton University will open the doors to a new school for students pursuing a career in pharmaceutical sciences.

Construction for BU’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which will be located in Johnson City on 96 Corliss Avenue, began this summer. The 84,000 square foot, four-story building was previously the location of the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company. The site was chosen in order to be close to surrounding medical centers, such as United Health Services Wilson Medical Center and Lourdes Hospital.

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo selected the pharmacy school to be a START-UP NY zone, which is a program that allows businesses in the area to pay no taxes for the first 10 years if opened within a one-mile radius of the school, with the hopes that pharmaceutical companies will begin to move to the area once the school is open.

“This is not just [a] school of pharmacy — and we desperately need a school of pharmacy,” Cuomo said in a press release. “It’s a school of pharmacy in a start-up zone working with the hospital as an economic engine. One of the big growth fields is biomedicine and it’s projected to be one of the hot growth sectors for this economy. So it’s not just about a school, it’s about a school and an economic engine for the future.”

The pharmacy school received $60 million in funds from Cuomo’s office for the construction of the facility as a part of the NYSUNY 2020 initiative. This initiative was created to spur economic growth and strengthen academic programs across New York state.

According to Gloria Meredith, the dean of the pharmacy school, construction is going well, and classes are set to begin at the school in the fall of 2018. The inaugural class is set to begin its classes at BU’s main campus in Vestal in August 2017, where it will remain until construction is completed.

“Concrete foundations are virtually complete and structural steel continues to be erected for the first and second floors,” Meredith said. “The new building is slightly ahead of schedule, is on budget and we anticipate moving in summer of 2018.”

Classes will have between 85 and 90 students, and a targeted student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1. The pharmacy school will offer a four-year program to earn a pharmaceutical doctorate, and will also offer a Ph.D. program. For BU graduates with a bachelor’s degree in biology or chemistry, the school will allow them to earn their pharmaceutical doctorate in three years.

The pharmacy school plans to interview students for their inaugural class this fall. Meredith and her student affairs staff will hold an information session on Thursday, Sept. 15 in the University Union for current BU students interested in pursuing a degree in the pharmaceutical sciences.