Oliver Wendell Holmes was right.
Beantown is the hub of the solar system in more ways than the original Boston Brahmin could have known. It’s the center of gravity for the national life sciences industry, according to a report from the Milken Institute.
The institute’s overall composite index ranks cities according to a variety of metrics including the health of its innovation pipeline, R&D activity, venture funding activity and the size of its workforce.
The report sites Greater Boston’s high concentration of medical devices and biotechnology firms, the area’s robust selection of universities and leading scientific research institutions and its “extensive network of collaborating agents in risk capital.”
Susan Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, told MassDevice the report confirms the Commonwealth’s stature in the industry.
“Massachusetts remains the leader in life sciences, thanks to our $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, and our leading academic institutions, medical centers, research institutes and industry leading companies,” said Windham-Bannister, speaking from Atlanta where she’s leading a delegation at the 2009 BIO International Conference. “It also tells us that we are in a competitive marketplace with other states and other nations and that we can’t take our leadership status for granted. We need to stay the course in implementing and funding the Life Sciences Act to ensure our ongoing leadership status in the life sciences.”
Boston beat out Philadelphia and San Francisco for the top spot. Here’s the full list:
1: Boston
2: Greater Philadelphia
3: Greater San Francisco
4: Greater New York
5: Greater Raleigh-Durham
6: Greater Los Angeles
7: Chicago
8: San Diego
9: Minneapolis
10: Washington, D.C.
11: Seattle
And here’s the full report.