Is East Bay Bioscience Significant?
The East Bay EDA markets our vibrant biosciences sector heavily at trade shows and overseas. Many of our cities have done excellent jobs focusing special attention on this industry and as a result of their efforts the East Bay supports a growing number of startups as well as heavy-hitters such as Abbott, Amgen, Johnson and Johnson, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and others. Still, the vast majority of the companies are small companies, many of which do not have a positive cash flow yet. And because the East Bay is rarely separated out from aggregate statistics describing the “Bay Area” or “Silicon Valley,” it is difficult to comprehend where our biotech cluster stands in the global scheme of things. If our bioscience cluster is not identified by name in the press, some may wonder how real it is. There are several indications that it is not only significant, but highly significant. First are the numbers. A 2002 study conducted by East Bay EDA revealed over 150 life science companies in Alameda
