Talent availability driving most Life Science location decisions

The US dominates the league table of top locations for life science occupiers, but the UK’s Golden Triangle is third and Beijing is seventh according to Savills which has just published its Life Science Markets Index. However, more European and AsiaPac cities are set to rise through the table, the firm said.

Savills examined locations based on the depth and cost of their life science talent pools, R&D investment and output, fundraising levels, business environment, cost of living and lifestyle factors, and property affordability.

Established US cities, especially Boston and San Francisco, performed well in all categories but Savills said that beyond the top 30 locations many more developing life science hotspots are emerging. These hotspots, often centred around academic institutions, offer greater cost advantages to occupiers without sacrificing access to a highly skilled workforce.

In the US these up-and-coming locations include Houston, Atlanta and Tampa. In Europe the Randstad cluster of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht in the Netherlands, Leuven in Belgium, Warsaw in Poland, Milan in Italy, and Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland are ones to watch. In Asia Pacific, Bengaluru and Pune in India and Melbourne in Australia are included.

“While the top 30 locations in our index continue to grow and offer the strongest ecosystems for life science occupiers – especially when it comes to accessing VC funding – other developing hubs may offer greater cost advantages to occupiers without sacrificing access to a highly skilled workforce,” said Sarah Brooks, associate director in Savills World Research. “As the life sciences industry faces increasing pressures related to the cost of R&D, drug pricing, regulatory changes, and broader economic factors, there is a strategic opportunity for real estate strategies to drive cost optimisation.”

 Securing talent is increasingly important in selecting sites according to Rick Schuham, Savills’ CEO of Global Occupier Services. “The industry is competing ever more with others for key talent in data science, automation, Gen AI and advanced robotics, to deliver data analysis, drug discovery, and laboratory optimisation. Many life science firms will therefore choose to locate in the top destinations in our Index to access this specialist talent, balancing the considerable outlay against the promise of accelerating future growth and driving process innovation for cost advantage.”