The "Big 3" Maintain Their Ranking as the Top Life Science Clusters in US

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - June 26, 2014) - For the 2nd consecutive year, life sciences' "Big 3" clusters of Big3Bio -- the Greater Boston area, the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego -- have been named the top bioclusters in the United States by JLL, the professional services and investment management firm specializing in commercial real estate. Presenting the firm's third annual Global Life Sciences Cluster Report at the 2014 BIO International Convention, JLL representatives noted that access to talent and research is keeping areas like the "Big 3" at the top of the U.S. life sciences clusters list.

"The right-sizing and reshuffling of the global biopharmaceutical companies has left its mark on key U.S. cities," said Roger Humphrey, executive managing director of JLL's Life Sciences group. "The strongest U.S. clusters have retained their competitive advantages, and continue to thrive as top centers of talent and innovation."

In the report, the Greater Boston Area once again tops the U.S. cluster scorecard. Although San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area reported higher year-over-year employment growth, Boston's ability to attract venture capital and U.S. National Institutes of Health funding secures its position as the top life sciences cluster in the world.

"Right after Jones Lang LaSalle's announcement, convention keynote address speaker Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about the importance of building relationships," said Tilton Little, executive director of Big3Bio. "The 'Big 3' lead this list because of several factors including the unrivaled relationship-building between local industry associations, academic institutions, local governments, investors, Big Pharma, and more."

JLL notes that all three areas are expected to lead the U.S. life sciences industry in the coming years because of the critical mass of start-ups and mid-tier companies, leading research institutions, access to private and public funding, and local leaders focused on growing their life sciences industries.

JLL's rankings are in accord with two similar lists published in March by industry media outlets Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News ("Top 10 U.S. Biopharma Clusters") and FierceBiotech ("The top 15 cities for biotech venture funding"). Although each list had varying criteria for their rankings, all three reports produced the same results -- the "Big 3" lead the way.

"Adding employment growth and patent applications to the Global Life Sciences Cluster Report scorecard this year, two areas where the San Francisco Bay Area particularly excels, meant that San Diego dropped a spot from last year's report," said Brian Cooper, Senior Vice President at JLL. "However, as former president Bill Clinton declared on national television, San Diego has become the 'human genome research capital in America,' which bolsters our city's strength in developing and supporting a collaborative cluster so attractive to emerging life science companies."

"San Diego's innovation economy is anchored by our strong biotech cluster. Not only are we home to what MIT researchers have dubbed 'The World's Smartest Company' -- Illumina -- but the region's leadership in stem cell research and the mapping of the human genome is second to none," said Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of San Diego Regional EDC. "Although we saw a dip in venture capital, this can be partially explained by the rise in local biotech companies going public. Last year was one of the strongest years for biotech IPOs in the past decade, which means in many cases companies did not need to raise late-stage money."

About Big3Bio

Big3Bio is the expansion of the BayBiotech Review, the leading aggregator service for Bay Area life science professionals. Big3Bio provides complete daily coverage of the news, events, jobs, and developments in the top three life science hubs in the world: Boston, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area. More information is available at www.big3bio.com.

About the Report

JLL's annual Global Life Sciences Cluster Report tracks geographic shifts in life sciences innovation, operations and facilities investments, including analysis of countries and cities most actively investing in their life sciences sectors. It includes a ranking of the top U.S. life sciences clusters, as well as analyses of life science hotspots around the world. The complete findings of the Global Life Sciences Cluster Report are available in a dedicated microsite here: http://www.jll.com/cluster-report.

JLL offers a team of real estate and facility management experts dedicated to helping life sciences companies optimize and manage their real estate portfolios. The firm provides a comprehensive range of facilities management services to the life sciences community covering 75 million square feet of research, manufacturing and commercial space. Its industry leading full-service platform includes: integrated facilities management, engineering and operations, energy and sustainability, transaction advisory services, lease administration, project management and a platform for comprehensive laboratory services, Labwell.

A leader in the real estate outsourcing field, JLL's Corporate Solutions business helps corporations improve productivity in the cost, efficiency and performance of their national, regional or global real estate portfolios by creating outsourcing partnerships to manage and execute a range of corporate real estate services. This service delivery capability helps corporations improve business performance, particularly as companies turn to the outsourcing of their real estate activity as a way to manage expenses and enhance profitability.

For more news, videos and research resources on JLL, please visit the firm's global media center Web page http://bit.ly/18P2tkv.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a professional services and investment management firm offering specialized real estate services to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying and investing in real estate. With annual fee revenue of $4 billion, JLL has more than 200 corporate offices and operates in 75 countries worldwide. On behalf of its clients, the firm provides management and real estate outsourcing services for a property portfolio of 3 billion square feet and completed $99 billion in sales, acquisitions and finance transactions in 2013. Its investment management business, LaSalle Investment Management, has $48.0 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.