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👨🏽‍🔬 Chicago's Position in Biosciences

AND Events Around the City

Author

Landon Campbell
December 09, 2024

In partnership with

88th Edition

✍🏽 This Week on Landon’s Loop:

👨🏽‍🔬 Chicago's Position in Biosciences

📆 Events Around the City

đź”™ Previous Newsletter Editions

đź”™ Highlights from Last Week

I visited our Columbus HQ with our seed team 👇🏽

We hosted the first Chicago Futurist Meetup, which brought together a curated crew of energy experts from the Windy City 👇🏽

I co-hosted the Chicago Business Soirèe, where we brought together leaders across the business community in Chicago 👇🏽

👨🏽‍🔬 Chicago's Position in Biosciences

Chicago has emerged as a significant player in the biotech and life sciences industry, driven by our state’s commitment to academic R&D and a growing ecosystem of biotech companies.

In 2024, three developments have propelled Chicago's biotech sector:

  1. Chan Zuckerberg Biohub: Chicago secured the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a coalition advancing human biology research. Just last week, the team published a breakthrough paper on an implantable sensor for real-time inflammation monitoring.

  2. Tempus IPO: Chicago-grown company Tempus went public, marking a significant milestone for the city’s biotech ecosystem. Tempus is a leader in precision medicine.

  3. UChicago and Orange Grove Bio: The University of Chicago's Polsky Center partnered with Orange Grove Bio to fast-track the commercialization of novel therapeutics and bridge the gap between research and development.

Let’s take a deeper look at our bioscience industry:

Bioscience Employment in Chicago

  • Illinois employs over 93,000 people in the bioscience industry across nearly 5,000 establishments.

  • Since 2019, employment in this sector has grown by 7.5%.

  • Average wages in Chicago bioscience are $153,000, which is 103% higher than the state’s private sector average.

Where we specialize

Chicago excels in three specialized subsectors:

  1. Agricultural Biosciences

  2. Pharmaceuticals

  3. Bioscience Distribution

University and Research Strength

  • Illinois ranks in the top quintile for bioscience-related academic R&D, with institutions collectively spending $2B annually.

  • The National Institutes of Health contributed $1.2B in funding to Illinois in 2023, a 20% increase since 2019.

  • Such investment enables critical advancements and strengthens partnerships between academic institutions and the private sector.

We’re Investing

At Drive, we’re actively investing in AI-driven life sciences. This effort is spearheaded by my partner, Erandi, a former Drive Capital portfolio founder. Her company, Forge Biologics, was incubated in our Columbus office and achieved a successful exit in just four years.

If you’re innovating in the space, lmk!

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📆 Events Around the City

AI Tinkerers Chicago #14

  • Hosted by Drive Capital

  • Tuesday

  • RSVP

Traditional VS Agentic-AI Modern Service Management

Blend:Talks

VAST World Tour Chicago

  • Hosted by VAST Data and Drive Capital

  • Wednesday

  • Email for details

fnChicago Chapter Holiday Party

đź—ž Previous Newsletter Editions:

#86 - New Illinois Institute for Semiconductors

#85 - The Story of Livongo

đź‘‹ See you next week!

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