NJ Excels in Life Sciences & Med-Tech Industry Support

On Jun 5, 2024

With the work of trade associations such as BioNJ and the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey, the state’s life sciences and medical technology sectors are flourishing and delivering the breakthrough innovations patients around the world depend upon.

BioNJ Knows ‘Patients Can’t Wait®’

www.BioNJ.org

By Debbie Hart, President and CEO 

BioNJ is a value-centric organization dedicated to ensuring a vibrant ecosystem where science is supported, companies are created, drugs are developed and patients are paramount. We are committed to promoting policies that facilitate tomorrow’s miracles and ensure that patients can access them.

Recognized as a respected thought leader, an influential advocate and a sought-after convener of the life sciences industry, BioNJ works closely with policymakers in Trenton and Washington, D.C. We champion the advancement of life sciences and advocate for health equity and affordable healthcare. 

We remain proactive in addressing policy challenges, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, March-In Rights and evolving discussions around Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). Simultaneously, we educate on and advocate for the value of medical innovation. 

The life sciences ecosystem in New Jersey provides robust economic output of $120.9 billion and supports more than 350,000 direct and indirect jobs. Several BioNJ member companies announced New Jersey expansion plans recently. Genmab will open a second New Jersey location in Plainsboro – intending to add 300 new jobs; Gilead Sciences launched a state-of-the-art facility in Parsippany-Troy Hills as its East Coast hub, where it is expected to develop more than 10 pioneering medicines by 2030; BeiGene initiated the construction of its new manufacturing campus and R&D center in Hopewell; and Cellares invested $255 million in a new cell manufacturing facility in Somerset County, projected to generate 350 local jobs.

BioNJ collaborates with state partners to support entrepreneurs in the life sciences sector – from growing incubator and collaborative workspaces to creating unique capital and state incentives. Notably, the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology has invested $16 million in 274 startups over four years and created 279 jobs and provided a 17-times return on its funding. Meanwhile our role in supporting and strengthening the ecosystem was on full display over the past year at nearly 40 different events, including the Annual Innovation Celebration, C-Suite Summit and the International BioPartnering Conference.

Talent stands out as the primary attraction for companies relocating to New Jersey and therefore, BioNJ has designed tools to provide access to this extraordinary talent pool. Our state-of-the-art Talent Career Portal, hosted at www.BioNJTalentNetwork.org, has emerged as the premier resource for life sciences professionals across the tri-state area.

We are proud of and inspired every day by our members who, together, are creating innovative treatments which are helping patients live longer, better lives.

HINJ Advocates for Innovative Ecosystem 

www.hinj.org

By Chrissy Buteas, President & CEO

For well over a century, New Jersey’s vibrant life sciences community has been dedicated to saving lives and advancing global health while driving New Jersey’s workforce and economy. Our state has historically been a leader in researching, discovering and delivering to patients new, innovative and cutting-edge therapies, diagnostics, technologies and cures. These advances save and improve lives around the world, helping people to live longer, with less pain, with more dignity and with greater independence. 

Why New Jersey? Because our state has grown into a unique and robust life sciences ecosystem that is particularly well-suited to playing that role and leading medical discoveries well into the 21st century:

• Our nationally ranked No. 1 K-12 school system feeds into our highly educated, highly trained and highly skilled workforce.
• Our strategic geographic location affords ready access to capital and consumer markets, allows for easy collaboration with other domestic and international research hubs, and provides a global transportation network.
• With the highest concentration of scientists and engineers per square mile in the US, we are bursting with research and development opportunities.
• We boast multiple world-class research universities and institutes.
• New Jersey is home to 43 teaching hospitals.
• Our state hosts five medical schools.

For these and other reasons, 14 of the 20 largest research-based biopharmaceutical companies and 12 of the 20 largest medical technology companies in the world maintain a headquarters operation or a significant presence in our state, with more than 1,700 life sciences establishments including 180 biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities.

The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ – www.hinj.org) advocates for an innovation ecosystem that supports, sustains and grows the life sciences’ research and development activities that allow us to discover the next generation of treatments and cures and maintain our state’s leadership role in such a critical area. 

As a result of that leadership position, New Jersey is the No.1 state for heart disease and stroke drugs in development and the No. 1 region for National Institute of Health (NIH) funding. Nearly 39% of all FDA approvals in 2020 went to New Jersey companies, contributing to 3,042 active clinical trials or recruiting around our state.

HINJ and our key stakeholders will continue working with policymakers and other leaders to ensure that our life sciences ecosystem, our state’s workforce and economy, and – most importantly, the patient community we serve – remain at the forefront of our state’s thought leaders. 

To access more business news, visit NJB News Now.

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