As noted in a recent CBRE report, the U.S. life sciences industry is growing at the fastest pace since 2000.

The 3.2% year-over-year growth rate in U.S. life sciences employment ending Q3 2018 is a strong acceleration from the slow,but temporary, growth in early 2017 and well-above the 1.7% increase in total U.S. nonfarm employment over the same period. Employment in the industry has grown 42% over the past 20 years. All sectors of life sciences (Manufacturing, Testing Labs, R&D) are growing, but R&D continues to outperform.  The key subsector that is driving growth, even within the larger R&D sector, is research & development in biotechnology. This subsector grew at an annual pace of 6.2% in Q3 2018, far greater than other sectors of life sciences. Biotech R&D has grown 88% over the past 20 years.

An abundance of capital allocated to the life sciences industry is helping fuel strong growth. The $15.8 billion in annual life sciences venture capital funding through Q3 2018 was an 86% increase from the prior year. Though most of that funding was diverted to companies in Massachusetts and California, early indications show the share allocated to these states has waned over the past few years as investors seek greater opportunities elsewhere. Among segments of the life sciences industry attracting the most capital, about half of all funding is being allocated to biotechnology pursuits, clearly helping drive that subsector’s astonishing growth.  Click here to access the entire report

Research collaboration between pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions are replete with challenges.  These challenges are:

• Resource constraints, the most frequently mentioned category, refers to the limited availability of human, monetary and organizational resources
• Legal and administrative process complexity includes challenges due to ‘paperwork’, internal approval processes, ethical reviews, and contract negotiations
• Coordination challenges relate to difficulties in teamwork, the frequency and quality of communication, the coordination of tasks and the exchange of goods and knowledge
• Scientific challenges arise from negative results, issues with the scientific methodology and difficulties in interpreting data
• Goal alignment challenges, relates to diverging expectations and goals among project members and insufficient priority of the project in the partnering organizations
• Interpersonal challenges include issues related to differences in project members’ individual attitudes, behaviours and interests, a lack of trust in the partner, a lack of commitment by single project members and interpersonal conflict
• Technological challenges arise from scarce knowledge on new technologies and methods, uncertainty in the technical feasibility of methods and unreliable experimental techniques.

U.S. News recently reported on why Chicago has become a top city for startups and entrepreneurs. Community supporters who help to drive entrepreneurial activity are a unique collaboration between startup accelerators and incubators that work in concert to nurture and showcase the region’s best and brightest emerging companies.

These accelerators drive innovation across the spectrum of sectors, such as mHUB, which is an innovation center for advanced manufacturing. Serving entrepreneurs in the healthcare sector is MATTER, where innovators are working together to drive major developments in the healthcare industry. Chicago also boasts the world’s #1 business incubator, 1871, and TechNexus, which both support technology startups of different stages. To read more, click here. 

The City of Broad Shoulders is becoming a City of Innovation as it attracts or creates more tech companies and jobs. Chicago had 14,014 tech businesses in 2017, 46 more than in 2016. The city also had 341,600 tech workers across all industries in 2017.  To read more about job creation, click here.  

Founders who start companies in Chicago can enjoy both the benefits of a big city and the warmth of a Midwestern town. The Windy City’s startup scene is boosted by a strong talent pipeline from local MBA and engineering programs. Female founders are drawn to Chicago: a solid third of the city’s startups are run by women. To read more on this topic, click here. 

“There’s a strong work ethic in the Midwest that you will not find anywhere else,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel noted. “It cannot be replicated or bottled, and it’s a dedication that they don’t have on either coast.”

Google opened a small sales office 18 years ago and has since expanded to 1,000 workers, says Karen Sauder, vice president of sales and site lead for Google Chicago. “The city’s culture, diversity and strong emphasis on community made it a perfect fit for Google and we look forward to our continued growth for years to come,”

“I saw this explosion at the intersection of technology, innovation, and established companies in Chicago,” says Penny Pritzker, billionaire entrepreneur.