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Research Triangle's Life Sciences Sector Growing Faster Than Silicon Valley's, Report Shows

WUNC News | By Anita Rao,
Frank Stasio
Published April 18, 2017 at 12:10 PM EDT
North Carolina's life sciences industry is growing rapidly.
HCC Public Information Office Biotechnology Program
North Carolina's life sciences industry is growing rapidly.

The Research Triangle is dotted with life sciences research and development companies, and Big Pharma operates sizeable manufacturing facilities in surrounding counties. The industry is a big player in North Carolina’s economy. It supports high-paying jobs, and in 2016 alone, it contributed an estimated $86 billion to the state’s economy.

WUNC data reporter Jason deBruyn talks about the growing life sciences sector in North Carolina.

While the life sciences sector in North Carolina is smaller in overall size than big hubs in Boston and Silicon Valley, a new report from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center suggests that the sector is growing faster here. Host Frank Stasio talks with Jason deBruyn, WUNC data reporter, about the past and future of life sciences in North Carolina.

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
See stories by Anita Rao
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio