A record number of products still under development in the life sciences sector continue to provide tailwinds for the industry, despite volatility in the broader macroeconomic environment, says Matt Gardner, CBRE’s U.S. life sciences leader.
Speaking on the Nareit REIT Report, Gardner noted that a bull run of investment in life sciences, that started in 2015, “left us with an incredible number of products in development. And those are still there.”
Gardner stressed that the life sciences industry doesn’t follow broader economic patterns. “If a product takes 10 to 15 years to develop, the investment in that product isn't going to follow a seven year economic cycle, which is why we look at this record number of products in phase two and phase three clinical trials as such an important sign of the industry's overall wellbeing. The science is still there,” he said.
The number of products still under development is the fundamental indicator that the industry is still investing in development, Gardner said. “That really comes back to the late stage clinical pipeline that's driving the whole industry.”
During the podcast, Gardner also noted that:
- San Diego, San Francisco, and Boston will continue to have the largest total life sciences square footage.
- The life sciences industry overall is growing from roughly 180 million square feet of lab space in the U.S. to about 220 million square feet. That increase will take a little while to absorb.
- Going forward, life sciences companies are likely to partner more frequently with pharmaceutical companies to drive products forward.