2006 California Biomedical Industry Highlights

• Companies – California is home to over 2,700 companies and more than 100 universities and private non-profit research organizations that are engaged in biomedical R&D and manufacturing.
• Employment and Job Distribution – The state’s biomedical industry accounts for nearly 260,000 California jobs. Employment in the industry is diverse: 42% of employees work in businesses making medical devices, instruments and diagnostic tools; 29% in biopharmaceutical companies; 15% in academic research; 12% in wholesale trade; and 2% in laboratory services. Among the state’s high-tech industries, only computer programming employs more workers than the biomedical industry.
• Wages – California’s biomedical industry paid approximately $18.2 billion in wages and salaries in 2005. Californians employed within the industry that year earned an average salary of $70,400. Within the sector, biopharmaceutical companies paid the highest average annual wage – $81,300.
• R&D Investment – California’s biomedical companies invested $26 billion in the development of new products for unmet medical needs in 2005, an $11 billion increase over 2003. The typical California biomedical company invested 42% of its revenues back into R&D.
• Product Development – There are approximately 802 new medicines in California’s R&D pipeline. Nearly half of today’s new therapeutic candidates are already being tested in patients. Nearly a third (32%) of the products in California companies’ pipelines target cancer.
• Revenues – California’s biomedical companies’ revenues for 2005 topped an estimated $62 billion.
• Value – California-based companies accounted for approximately two-thirds of the market value of all Nasdaq-listed life sciences companies in 2006.
• Funding –
  • NIH Grants: California attracted more than $3.6 billion in NIH grants in 2004, approximately 37.4% more than the second largest grantee (Massachusetts). Between 2000 and 2004, funding to California has increased approximately 31.9%, comparable to the overall increase in NIH funding distributed nationally (28.4%).
  • Venture Capital: The life sciences industry attracted $2.9 billion in venture capital investment in 2005 – representing 49% of the total $5.9 billion invested in life sciences in the U.S.

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Source: California Healthcare Institute/PricewaterhouseCoopers
2006 Report on California's Biomedical Industry