BIOtech Now
Andrew Segerman
In a recent piece for Forbes, Pfizer’s Chairman and CEO Ian Read highlights the significant economic value that biopharmaceutical companies create for the U.S. economy.
“The most fundamental way in which the industry creates value is by discovering and manufacturing innovative medicines that help people live longer, healthier, more productive lives,” Read notes. “But the industry’s value creation is even more tangible when you look at its impact on GDP and job creation.”
As Read points out, local, state, and national economies are benefiting tremendously from bioscience job growth – consistent with recent findings from BIO’s latest National Bioscience Industry Report. For example:
- U.S. bioscience firms directly employ 1.74 million people, a figure that includes more than 273,000 high-paying jobs created since 2001;
- The average annual wage for a U.S. bioscience worker reached $98,961 in 2016. These earnings are more than $45,000 greater, on average, than the overall U.S. private sector wage; and
- The report further shows that since 2014, the bioscience industry has grown by 4.4 percent with four of its five major subsectors contributing to this overall job gain.
To build upon this economic success story, Read called for policies that incentivize innovation and growth.
“Among the priorities we must consider are increased funding to support basic research; addressing unfair trade and IP practices by other nations; enacting healthcare reforms that allow appropriate reimbursement for the cost of innovation; and increasing private and public investment in STEM-based workforce training–including apprenticeships–to ensure we have a future workforce with the skills needed to run increasingly complex manufacturing operations.”
Our nation’s life sciences sector is thriving, and as an important leader within that industry, Mr. Read has helped lay out a thoughtful plan to sustain it.
Read Ian Read’s full op-ed here.
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