Advocacy organization Biocom California has released its 2021 Economic Impact Report which provides demographic, economic and performance data on the state’s life science industry.
Joe Pannetta, Biocom’s chief executive, said in a statement that new indicators such as VC funding and the number of granted patents highlighted in the report provide a broader understanding of the current and potential future opportunities for the industry. Developed by Biocom in association with outside firms, the report is broken down into regions, such as Los Angeles County and Ventura County.
Los Angeles County, which encompasses the Valley region, had 96,844 people directly employed by life sciences companies in 2020 and supported a total of 231,904 jobs.
$60.8 billion was generated in economic activity in total business sales in 2020 for the county, which also generated $19 billion in labor income.
The most popular sector for 2020 life science employment in L.A. County was research and manufacturing, followed far behind by biopharmaceuticals and medical devices and equipment. Average annual individual earnings for the life sciences industry in L.A. County approached $98,000 in 2020.
Among the most notable aspects about L.A. County’s data is the fact that it received $1.9 billion in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, the most of any county in California. In total, California received $6.23 billion research funding from the NIH.
Biocom L.A. Executive Director Stephanie Hsieh wrote to the Business Journal in an email that nationally, L.A. County is second in NIH funding only to the Cambridge/Boston region.
“From my perspective, we’re at a ‘tipping’ point in the region – we’re finally building awareness of what’s here and getting the right pieces and conversations in place to help support and grow the industry in L.A. and Ventura,” Hsieh wrote. “This includes local elected/governmental support, more wet lab space in the form of incubators and more investment.”
Ventura County generated $6.5 billion in economic activity in total business sales in 2020 while also providing $1.9 billion in labor income. More than 8,000 people were directly employed by life science companies in 2020 in Ventura County, which also supported nearly 21,000 indirect jobs.
The average annual earnings for life science employees in Ventura was more than L.A. County, coming in at $130,135.
Hsieh wrote that 66 percent of the LA/Ventura life science workforce does not have a bachelor’s degree and that one of the biggest myths in the industry is that a graduate degree is required to get a job.
“Nowhere in California is that myth bigger than in L.A. and Ventura counties,” she wrote.
The next challenge for the industry, Hsieh wrote, will be establishing more and larger wet labs (bioscience campuses) as well as supporting infrastructure in the form of affordable housing and transportation for the workforce and increased connectivity between geographic micro clusters.
Hsieh offered an example of a bioscience campus in the Valley region with HatchSpace’s development at 2380 Conejo Spectrum St. in Thousand Oaks.