From the first drug ever approved by the FDA to the first COVID-19 vaccine, a lot of biopharma history has happened some 25 miles northwest of New York City, at a one-time dairy farm that for more than a century has served as a research site for Pfizer and several predecessor companies.

With future plans that include more vaccines like the ones it has co-developed with BioNTech for COVID, Pfizer is planning a $470-million expansion of its Vaccine Research and Development facilities in Pearl River, NY, that it hopes to start work on next year. Pfizer aims to build 260,000 new square feet of space, including 55,000 square feet of new labs.