Explosive Growth of Life Sciences Sector Comes with Challenges

16 Sep 2022


News

Life sciences has become much more than a niche sector on the outskirts of commercial real estate — and, like other accelerating sectors in real estate, it is experiencing growing pains. Demand for space is being driven by promising new technologies and medical advancements moving from research to everyday miracles. And while the pandemic has certainly put pressure on the health system and life sciences industries, it has also accelerated growth (and funding) for promising discoveries.

Since around 2010, thanks to a surge in new products and technology, as well as an influx of capital from both public and private investors, the life sciences sector has seen significant growth. The last two years have seen tremendous expansion with $70 billion of private equity (PE) capital and public National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding pouring into life sciences-related companies in North America in 2020 — and a record $78 billion in 2021. Building off the successful use of mRNA technology to produce effective and commercially viable vaccines, the life sciences industry is rushing to apply the lessons learned to other conditions like cystic fibrosis, cancer, and HIV.

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