Industry Landscape:
Home to the industry’s pillar companies such as Genentech, Gilead Sciences, Bayer, Applied Biosystems, Exelixis, Genencor, and more, Northern California boasts the biggest concentration of life sciences firms, the best venture capital network, and some of the brightest research institutes in the world. From the nostalgic charm and culture of San Francisco, to the extraordinary beauty of the California coast, Northern California provides the ultimate setting for the largest and most ambitious assembly of the life sciences industry to date.
Why Northern California is Unique:
You may ask what makes Northern California the best place in the world to do life sciences research. The answer is complex, but compelling. First, more life science companies are located in Northern California than anywhere else and an average of 30 more companies are founded each year here. The region has a wealth of first-tier life science research and medical care institutions, including five major research universities and three medical schools. Companies located in Northern California can be assured of available managers, employees and consultants experienced in the life science field. And it is not just technical skill, it is the entrepreneurial spirit—a willingness to take risks and think outside the box—that makes Northern California workers so valuable to the life sciences sector. In addition to good science and an entrepreneurial spirit, a comprehensive life sciences-specific financial, legal and accounting service industry is locally available.
Northern California has had a world-class academic research base in the life sciences since the 1960s, but it takes more than that to spin off a successful industry, as many European countries have found in recent years. Northern California has an enviable track record—more than 50 percent of all companies spun out from universities in California have come from Northern California institutions. So how did they do it? Initially, it was mostly thanks to the ready availability of venture capital—not to mention a few visionary and highly entrepreneurial scientists to set the trends.
Northern California is now home to 34 percent of active US venture capital firms and this regional concentration has existed since the 1980s. In addition, life sciences have proved relatively resilient in times of economic downturn. Northern California recieves approximately 28% of all venture capital funding of life sciences companies nationwide. Of course VCs aren’t the only source of research funding for life sciences. Northern California received $2.20 billion in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants in 2007, more than any other region in the US.
Northern California Life Sciences Cluster:
- Birthplace of Biotechnology—Genentech founded in 1976
- 9 Counties, 101 Cities, 7,000 Square Miles of Land
- 1,377 Life Science Companies
- 250,000 Direct and Indirect Employees
- 100,000 Employed in Life Sciences Directly
- $6B Wages Paid
- 560 Marketed Products
- 463 Products in Phase II and Phase III Clinical Trials
- 95 Publicly Traded Companies
- $144 Billion Market Cap
- $2.2 Billion NIH Grants Awarded to Northern California Organizations
- $860 million invested by Venture Capital firms in Northern California life sciences in 52 Deals
