Reports

BIO/TEConomy Jobs Report 2020

Strong Bioscience Jobs Numbers Keep Indiana in Top Tier of States

Latest Biennial Report from BIO Shows Job, Wage, and Establishment Growth

June 8, 2020 – INDIANAPOLIS, IN –The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) today released its ninth biennial report, “The Bioscience Economy: Propelling Life-Saving Treatments, Supporting State & Local Communities”, which highlights Indiana as a top state for the biosciences.  The report studies the state of the U.S. bioscience industry and its associated innovation ecosystem at the national, state, and metropolitan area levels.   According to the report, “Indiana’s large and highly specialized bioscience industry experienced modest growth in recent years to reach more than 59,000 jobs in 2018. The industry is 49 percent more concentrated in Indiana relative to the national average (location quotient is 1.49), and its strengths across the biosciences are diverse”. 

The new report, developed in partnership by TEConomy and BIO, analyzes the bioscience industry’s economic footprint across the nation and in Indiana, the significant role of small- and mid-sized companies, and the industry’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  It looks at five bioscience sectors across the state: agricultural feedstock and industrial bioscience, bioscience related distribution, drugs and pharmaceuticals, medical devices and equipment, and research, testing, and medical laboratories.  It states, “three of the five major bioscience subsectors have strong specializations in their employment concentration, including drugs and pharmaceuticals, agricultural feedstock and industrial biosciences, and medical device manufacturing”. It places Indiana in the top quintiles for employment, location, and number of establishments and in the mid quintiles for funding and R&D expenditures.

As evidenced by other recent reports, Indiana’s key funding metrics, such as R&D expenditures, venture capital investment, and bioscience related patents are slowly improving.  According to the report, “National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards to Indiana institutions have steadily increased in recent years and totaled $324 million in FY 2019. These awards have helped to fund, in part, the $683 million in bioscience-related university R&D activities recorded in 2018. Indiana has a high volume of patents, with Hoosier inventors associated with 3,909 awarded from 2016 through 2019 in bioscience-related technology classes”.

“The bioscience industry’s economic footprint reaches into so many local communities across the country. From capital investments to research & development, this report shows the impact of the biosciences across the nation’s innovation ecosystem. The bioscience industry is critically important to Indiana and we are proud to work closely with partners like the Indiana Health Industry Forum to help ensure the future of the industry and its role as an economic driver in the region,” said Pete Pellerito, BIO Senior Policy Adviser for Federal and State Economic Development and Technology Transfer Initiatives.

“We thank Pete Pellerito and his team at BIO for their work in compiling this important and detailed report”, said Kristin Jones, President and CEO of the Indiana Health Industry Forum (IHIF) a BIO state partner association.  “This gives us an important glimpse into the health and mechanics of the sector and shows that we were on solid footing heading into the COVID crisis.  I’m certain that Indiana’s strengths in innovation and the increasing national need for skilled workers in this field will help our sector thrive”.

The analysis includes a fact sheet for Indiana, which can be found via the interactive map at www.bio.org/jobs and IHIF’s site.

About IHIF

IHIF is a statewide trade association representing Indiana’s bio+med tech business community. The diverse members of the Indiana Health Industry Forum generate the collective voice of the state’s health and life science industry. Our mission is to connect key stakeholders to: enhance business networks, advocate for member interests, develop workforce skills, and provide strategic vision in the interest of growing the state’s health industry economy and reputation. To learn more, please visit www.ihif.org.

About BIO

BIO is the world’s largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

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