Salt Lake City - December 27, 2022. BioUtah, Utah’s only trade association dedicated solely to the life sciences, announced today new economic data released by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and the Council of State Bioscience Associations on the bioscience industry in the United States, including a Utah specific fact sheet along with information for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
View the full report HERE. View the Utah fact sheet on the right.
The 2022 report, The US Bioscience Industry: Fostering Innovation and Driving America's Economy Forward, marks the tenth biennial assessment developed in partnership with BIO and TEConomy Partners. The study, focused on the bioscience industry’s national footprint and latest trends for the states and metropolitan areas, finds an industry thriving amidst the economic and public health challenges of the last two and a half years.
- The nation’s bioscience industry employed 2.14 million employees across more than 127,000 U.S. business establishments in 2021. These 2.14 million jobs support another 8.2 million through indirect and induced effects.
- As the overall economy shed 1.5% of its job base, the biosciences industry increased employment by 11% since 2018.
- In total, the bioscience industry’s economic impact on the U.S. economy amounted to $2.9 trillion dollars in 2021, as measured by overall output.
The report’s state-by-state review demonstrates that Utah’s bioscience industry is highly specialized in its concentration, diverse in its strengths and is growing.
“As the report shows, since 2018, Utah’s bioscience sector has seen solid increases in employment, VC funding, academic R&D and NIH awards,” said Andrea Kendell, chief financial officer North America and VP Finance Global Manufacturing at bioMerieux, and Chair of the BioUtah Board of Directors. “BioUtah, working with industry, government and other stakeholders, is committed to supporting this progress and advancing the culture of innovation we’ve built here.”
- Utah is one of only three states that has a specialized employment concentration in three or more bioscience sub-sections - medical devices and equipment; pharmaceuticals; and research, testing and medical laboratories.
- Of the nation’s metropolitan areas, Utah cities - Salt Lake City, Ogden and Provo have an especially high concentration of bioscience industry strengths, including medical device manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and laboratory operations.
- Utah’s bioscience industry employment is one of the most highly concentrated in the nation, with a location quotient of 1.74, or 74 percent above the national average.
- In the medical device sector, Utah ranked 5th in employment growth among all states. Utah’s metropolitan areas ranked high in employment specialization. Location quotient shows how the area compared to national averages with the national average being 1.00.
- Salt Lake City Metro Area ranked 2nd in large metro areas with a location quotient of 5.22 or 522% above the national average. It also ranked 7th in total jobs in the medical sector.
- Ogden-Clearfield ranked 5th in medium sized metro areas with a location quotient of 2.60, or 260% above the national average.
- Logan ranked 7th in small metro areas with a location quotient of 4.45, or 445% above the national average.
- In 2021, this report showed the industry provided 40,419 total direct industry jobs with 1,845 business establishments. With a force multiplier of 4.82, the life sciences industry in Utah accounts directly and indirectly for approximately 195,000 jobs according to the TEConomy report.
- VC investments in Utah bioscience companies have increased significantly in recent years and in 2021 totaled nearly $900 million, up from $181.7 million in 2018 ranking Utah 8th in per capita VC investments from 2018-2021.
- Utah generated nearly 1,900 biosciences related patents from 2018-2021.
“Clearly, Utah’s bioscience industry is continuing its growth trajectory as one of the fastest growing life sciences communities in the country,” said Kelvyn Cullimore, president and CEO of BioUtah. “Our bio community is creating jobs, attracting increased investment and driving life-changing innovation.”
