Booming Biotech

The biotechnology industry has experienced accelerated growth in recent years. The major factor influencing this growth has been large pharmaceutical companies looking for their next blockbuster drug coupled with an aging population facing a long list of chronic diseases.

The demand for new medicines has brought challenges to biotech companies. They are engaged in a heated talent battle, looking to hire from a small pool of elite scientists from major universities and institutions. In addition to battling for talent, the smallest, most innovative companies must also fight for square footage near established biotech research hubs, like Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Diego, California. The facilities and networks in those areas are ideal for supporting new drug development but the cost per square foot continues to grow.

Finally, biotech workplaces themselves are changing under technology’s influence. Scientists are spending less time in the lab due to increased automation of tasks and the ability to gather data remotely over the internet. As always, biotech companies’ offices must change as their phase of drug development evolves, from lab-heavy research and development to hosting a sales team when new medications hit the market.

Knoll surveyed professionals at leading biotech companies, real estate firms, architectural & design firms and building management companies associated with biotech, to capture the most recent trends in the industry and what drives the biotech workplaces of today. Speaking with these industry insiders, we identified characteristics and priorities of the biotech workplace.

This report summarizes our research, covers key trends in the industry and provides planning and design strategies biotech companies can implement within their workplaces.

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