18,000 Employed in VA Biotech, Says New BIO Report
The Nation’s bioscience industry continues to grow as states and regions vie to attract high-wage jobs, according to a study released last week by Battelle and the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).
The study, “Technology, Talent and Capital: State Bioscience Initiatives 2008,” presents data on national, state and metropolitan bioscience employment and growth trends during 2001 to 2006. The study also examines a series of additional key performance metrics and describes state policies and programs designed to accelerate the growth of the biosciences. The report has been produced from the most current and comparable annual data available.
Total U.S. employment in the biosciences reached 1.3 million in 2006, up from 1.2 million in 2004, led by strong growth in the research, testing and medical lab subsector, which experienced a 17.8 percent increase in employment and a 32.7 percent increase in establishments between 2001 and 2006. Indirect and induced employment from the bioscience industry totals an additional 6.2 million jobs spread throughout the remainder of the economy. Together, these direct, indirect and induced jobs account for a total employment impact of 7.5 million jobs.
Industry Grows in Virginia:
According to the report, there are more than 18,000 people employed in approximately 800 private sector bioscience companies in the Commonwealth. Virginia has an employment concentration in agricultural feedstock and chemicals. In the research, testing, and medical laboratories subsector, employment grew rapidly (39 percent since 2001). Total academic bioscience research expenditures were $516 million in 2006, led by medical and biological sciences. In the past 6 years, venture capital invested in the biosciences totaled $193 million, with a peak in 2007. Most went to medical/health information technology, medical/health products, and human biotechnology. The 2,884 bioscience patents issued over the same period were led by surgical and medical instruments, drugs and pharmaceuticals, and biochemistry. The Virginia profile can be downloaded here: http://www.bio.org/local/battelle2008/VA_BIO_08.pdf
“The bioscience sector is truly coming of age with new discoveries finding their way into new applications and products leading to new medical treatments, new sources of energy, and new industrial products made out of bio-based materials,” said Jim Greenwood, President and CEO of BIO. “This has led to the growth of clusters of bioscience firms focused on specialized niches throughout the 50 states and Puerto Rico.”
Among the national findings:
- The bioscience sector is a source of high-wage jobs. The average bioscience job paid $71,000 in 2006, $29,000 more than the average private sector job.
- Each bioscience job generates an additional 5.8 jobs in the national economy.
- Thirty-five states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have an employment specialization (20 percent or more concentrated than the nation) in at least one of the four bioscience subsectors (drugs and pharmaceuticals, medical devices and equipment, research, testing and medical laboratories, and agricultural feedstock and chemicals).
The study and individual profiles of the 50 states and Puerto Rico are available on the BIO website at http://www.bio.org/local/battelle2008/.
