KENNETT SQUARE, PA — Penn Vet has started construction on a $94 million veterinary diagnostic laboratory at its New Bolton Center near Kennett Square, consolidating two high-volume testing operations into a 63,000-square-foot facility intended to strengthen Pennsylvania’s animal-disease surveillance, food-safety response and horse-racing oversight.
The state-supported Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will house New Bolton Center’s operation within the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System, or PADLS, and the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology Research Laboratory, known as PETRL. Both programs have outgrown their current facilities.
The PADLS operation conducted more than 279,000 diagnostic tests last year but currently works from laboratory space dispersed among several buildings on New Bolton Center’s upper and lower campuses.
PETRL processes about 30,000 samples annually from Pennsylvania’s six racetracks while operating from leased space at West Chester University and research space at New Bolton Center. The new facility will bring its analytical and research operations together with the animal-diagnostic program.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2028, with both laboratories scheduled to move into the building in 2029. SMP Architects is designing the facility.
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is sponsoring the project, making the laboratory a significant state-backed capital investment in Chester County’s agricultural and life-sciences infrastructure.
“For years, our diagnostic and toxicology teams have delivered results that people across Pennsylvania rely on,” Penn Vet Dean Andrew M. Hoffman said. He said putting the operations together would allow the teams to work in facilities designed around their diagnostic and research functions.
PADLS was established by Pennsylvania in 1991 to protect animal and human health and reduce economic losses from animal disease. New Bolton Center operates one of four laboratories in the statewide system, alongside state and Penn State facilities.
The New Bolton Center laboratory is also part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network and is accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.
PETRL provides regulatory testing for Pennsylvania horse racing, analyzing post-race samples as well as out-of-competition samples used to detect prohibited substances in horses in training.
The laboratory is the only U.S. facility accredited to test for gene doping and the only one in the country capable of confirming blood-doping agents including erythropoietin, or EPO, and darbepoetin, or DPO, according to Penn Vet. It also holds accreditation under the ISO/IEC 17025 standard and from the Racing Medication Testing Consortium and American Association for Laboratory Accreditation.
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said the investment is intended to improve the state’s ability to detect and prevent disease and respond to animal-health emergencies.
Pennsylvania agriculture encompasses more than 48,800 farms, contributes more than $132 billion annually to the state economy and supports nearly 600,000 jobs, according to figures cited by Penn Vet.
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