TEConomy Report Highlights North Carolina's Sector Growth

North Carolina has nurtured its life sciences industry over several decades, firmly establishing itself as a leading U.S. life sciences cluster. Characterized by steady growth, the industry today is large, with a significant statewide employment and establishment footprint, highly specialized in its employment concentration relative to the national average, and especially diverse, with several specialized subsectors of the industry serving varied global markets. Amidst the pandemic and economic challenges of the prior two-and-a-half years, North Carolina’s life sciences growth has accelerated, outpacing national industry growth, and placing itself among the fastest growing top-tier life sciences states. At the same time, the industry has played a crucial role as a high-growth, high-impact economic engine for North Carolina as private sector growth stalled during the pandemic-related economic shutdowns of 2020.

This seventh biennial edition of the Evidence and Opportunity series presents an updated assessment and evaluation of the economic position, performance, and impacts of the life sciences industry in North Carolina as well as the progress and impacts of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBiotech) in achieving its vision of “North Carolina: a global life sciences leader.” NCBiotech represents a nearly four-decade commitment to growing the state’s life sciences industry and its supportive innovation ecosystem through intentional, targeted development programs, initiatives, and strategic investments. The industry’s standing and position today has been hard-earned and can be traced back, in part, to the early foresight and consistent dedication of NCBiotech, with annual funding allocated by the State of North Carolina.