Top 10 U.S. States Land $37.7 Billion in Active Pharmaceutical-Biotech Industry Capex Investment

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--It is pretty much a given that when it comes to compiling a list of the top 10 states hosting the highest amount of pharmaceutical biotech industry investment, that California, Massachusetts and North Carolina would be juggling for first place. Finding New York and Maryland on that same list would surprise no one. But, what about the other five? Who has a piece of that $37.7 billion pie?

Some of the other states in the top 10 might raise some eyebrows, as Georgia or Texas do not typically come to mind when it comes to the life sciences. Today's marketplace is one that while still respecting and investing in traditional manufacturing and research hubs, encompasses virtually every state in the union. If the incentives are strong enough and the logistics will work, companies are willing to entertain and eventually choose to locate "outside the box."

These decisions to choose an atypical state are aided by the heavy influx of university investment into scientific research facilities across the nation. From the Ivy League to community colleges, these institutions are investing millions to construct advanced laboratory facilities, enabling them to produce better educated students in various scientific disciplines and attract top talent in the form of researchers. All of which is enticing to an industry with a never- ending demand for new products and therapies.

Click icon at right to see a graph of the top 10 states for pharma-bio projects.

The reported 701 projects drawn from the top 10 states are in various stages of development. Some are in early planning, while others are well into construction. The project average total investment value of $53.7 million was boosted by several landing in the billion-dollar stratosphere.

Does a billion dollar project skew the numbers, or indeed, even the state's inclusion on the list? Of course it does, but not to the extent one might imagine.

Be it an industry project, like the Shire Plc (NASDAQ:SHPG) (Dublin, Ireland) (former incarnations of Baxter and Baxalta) $1 billion blood plasma fractional plant in Covington, Georgia, or the Texas Medical Center's $750 million plan to construct a 2 million-square-foot TMC3 Innovation Campus, it is evident they are not "one offs." At one time, with a bad economy and the industry's reorganization, it was thought the days of billion-dollar life science investment, private or public, was over.

That is no longer the case, nor is it expected to be any time soon. The traditional industry hub states will most likely always make the top five, but the remaining five are up for grabs on any given day. Any state with the right package could find itself a serious contender in a billion dollar site selection.

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