The (Garden) State of Life Sciences

Facts and figures• Employment: Compounded annual growth rate was 1.0% between 1990 and 2000-below the national average of 2.0%• Patents: 11.2 per 10,000 workers in 2000-above the national average of 7.5-but growth rate in the 1990s was 2.5% compared to 4.1% for the nation• Venture capital: Funding in 2002 was $106 per worker, slightly lower than the national average of $125• Fast-growth firms: NJ averaged 3.9% of all Inc500 fastest-growing firms between 1993–2002, c

Written byFrancesco Fiondella
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

Employment: Compounded annual growth rate was 1.0% between 1990 and 2000-below the national average of 2.0%

Patents: 11.2 per 10,000 workers in 2000-above the national average of 7.5-but growth rate in the 1990s was 2.5% compared to 4.1% for the nation

Venture capital: Funding in 2002 was $106 per worker, slightly lower than the national average of $125

Fast-growth firms: NJ averaged 3.9% of all Inc500 fastest-growing firms between 1993–2002, compared to its share of 3.2% of nation's work force

Between 1990 and 2000, 5,403 net new jobs were added to the NJ life sciences industry. Some businesses fared better than others (each bar segment represents 1,000 jobs gained or lost):

Commercial phys./biol.research

Noncommercial research org.

Pharmaceutical preparations

Electromedical equipment

Patent owners and lessors

Diagnostic substances

Dental equipment/supplies

Biol. products, excl. diagnostic

X-ray apparatus and tubes

Surgical appliances and supplies

Ophthalmic goods

Plastics, bottles

Surgical and ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Published In

Share
February 2026

A Stubborn Gene, a Failed Experiment, and a New Path

When experiments refuse to cooperate, you try again and again. For Rafael Najmanovich, the setbacks ultimately pushed him in a new direction.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Conceptual multicolored vector image of cancer research, depicting various biomedical approaches to cancer therapy

Maximizing Cancer Research Model Systems

bioxcell

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Pioneers Life Sciences Innovation with High-Quality Bioreagents on Inside Business Today with Bill and Guiliana Rancic

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Expands Research Reagent Portfolio to Support Global Nipah Virus Vaccine and Diagnostic Development

Beckman Coulter

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Partners with Automata to Accelerate AI-Ready Laboratory Automation

Refeyn logo

Refeyn named in the Sunday Times 100 Tech list of the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies