News

Posted On: 01/29/2007

Bioscience Industry Contributes to U.S. Economic Growth

PharmaManufacturing.com

A newly released report, The Biosciences in the United States: A Regional Perspective, finds that employment in the biosciences is widely dispersed, with 25 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) each having more than 10,000 total bioscience jobs. The metropolitan area with the most bioscience jobs — more than 110,000 — is the New York City MSA, which includes Northern New Jersey and Long Island.

A 2006 report prepared by Battelle for BIO found that the biosciences are a growing and vibrant sector of the U.S. economy, with more than 40,000 businesses employing 1.2 million people in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. And when taking into account multipliers, overall 7 million people are directly and indirectly employed in this industry.

The report identifies those MSAs that:

• Have a large number of bioscience workers, defined as having at least a 2 percent share of total national employment



• Are highly specialized, that is, having a concentration of regional jobs that is 50 percent more than the national average



• Have regions with “emerging” bioscience sectors. These are metro areas with employment between 500-5,000 that experienced job growth of at least 20 percent between 2001 to 2004.

These data are provided for four bioscience sectors: drugs and pharmaceuticals; medical devices and equipment; research, testing and medical laboratories; and agricultural feedstocks and chemicals.

In addition to reporting on local areas meeting statistical thresholds, the report profiles seven specific metropolitan regions with significant activities or niches in one or many of the bioscience subsectors. Regional profiles were prepared for Boulder, Colo.; Durham, N.C.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Kansas City, Mo.; Madison, Wis.; Philadelphia, Pa; and St. Louis, Mo.. Such regions are investing to create the research base, talent pool, capital markets, and commercialization capabilities to build a critical mass of bioscience firms.

“This report shows that the biosciences are a key driver in the development of regional technology-based economies throughout the United States,” said Walter H. Plosila, Vice President of the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice, “offering a way for regions to diversify their economies by growing diverse segments of the biosciences including ag biotechnology and industrial processing, the manufacture of medical devices, the development and production of drugs and pharmaceuticals, and research, testing, and medical labs.”

“This report illustrates that nearly every large metropolitan area in the United States is actively pursuing bioscience industry development,” said Patrick Kelly, Vice President of State Government Relations for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). “For a variety of reasons, we’re seeing significant interest from state and regional development authorities in the biosciences. The biosciences not only have the potential to create high-skill, high-wage jobs, but the industry is also developing technologies that can improve the quality of healthcare and agriculture and help meet our nation’s growing energy needs.”

Key findings of the report include:

• More than half of the nation’s 361 MSAs have a specialization (employment concentration that is 20 percent greater than the national average) in at least one of the four major bioscience subsectors
  
  
• Many metro areas, including Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and St. Louis, have a broad employment base in three or even four of the bioscience subsectors
  
  
• Other metro areas are highly specialized in one or two particular subsectors such as Minneapolis (medical devices), Washington, D.C. (research, testing, and medical labs), and Pittsburgh (research, testing, and medical labs and medical devices)
  
  
• Two metro areas, Lincoln, Neb. and Madison, Wis., have a specialization in all four bioscience subsectors.

The study, which was prepared by Battelle, is available on the BIO Web site at www.bio.org/local/battelle2007/ and the Battelle Web site at www.battelle.org/news/07/default.stm.