PwC: California biomedical companies report higher product approvals

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

According to the annual California Biomedical Industry Report, published  by BayBio, California Healthcare Institute (CHI) and PwC US, the pace of product approvals and pipeline productivity of California-based biomedical companies reinforces the state’s position as the nation’s leading source of biomedical innovation.

The California Biomedical Industry Report provides an annual snapshot of the biomedical industry in California, the largest biomedical cluster in the world and source of the greatest number of products in clinical development. The 2013 report found California to be:

• No. 1 in jobs: Biomedical industry employment in California has grown at an average annual rate of 0.5 percent over the past five years. There are currently 269,997 people employed in the total biomedical industry, and 152,806 employees in the core sectors of biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, instruments and diagnostics, and research and development/testing laboratories.
• No. 1 in new treatments to patients: Twenty-one percent of the nation’s biomedical R&D pipeline is comprised of innovation from California laboratories.
• No. 1 in venture capital investments: California biomedical companies secured $1.98 billion in venture capital investment through the first three quarters of 2012, a greater amount than any other state and equal to the total combined amount that went to companies in the next eight states, ranked by VC investments.
• No. 1 in federal funding: $3.33 billion in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) went to California institutions, more than any other state and 15.1 percent of total national NIH funding.

The 2013 California Biomedical Industry Report includes findings from a survey of 175 biomedical company CEOs, who report significant improvements in the FDA regulatory process over the past year and a notable reduction in project delays due to regulatory issues. Despite this progress, biomedical companies say that lack of adequate funding, government pricing intervention and the FDA regulatory environment represent the biggest risks to future success in biomedical innovation.