2014 Snapshot: How the Golden State Fared in Biotech

California is known as an innovator in the national and global life sciences community, garnering more federal biomedical research dollars than any other state in the country.

As a new year approaches, two organizations — the California Healthcare Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers — have teamed up to release a report looking at the state’s biotech performance in 2014.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers:

$3 billion. The amount of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to be awarded to California researchers in 2014.

$3.8 billion. Total venture capital dollars to be invested in California life science businesses in 2014.

4%. Rate of growth in California’s biopharmaceutical and medical device employment from 2009 to 2013.

  1. Number of California schools that are ranked in the world’s top 100, according to the Shanghai Index. They are (in alphabetical order): California Institute of Technology; Scripps Research Institute; Stanford University; UC Berkeley; UC Davis; UC Irvine; UC Los Angeles; UC San Diego; UC San Francisco; University of Southern California.

  2. Number of Investigational New Drug (IND) products through Phase III clinical trials for cancer treatment in California.

1,228. Total of people in California who earned life science doctoral degrees in 2012.

2,636. Number of life science businesses located in California.

$101,540. The average salary of a life science professional in California.

767,300. Number of California jobs are supported by the life science industry.

While the report paints a positive picture for California’s 2014 life science sector, it also conveyed a major theme: The state can’t afford to rest on its laurels.

“We must work actively to ensure that California maintains an environment that fosters biomedical research, investment and job creation,” Todd E. Gillenwater, President and CEO of the California Healthcare Institute, said in the report.