NEW YORK — New York City’s life sciences industry could play a central role in creating high-paying jobs, raising household incomes and expanding economic opportunities beyond Manhattan, according to a report by Builds Bio that calls for a more coordinated strategy to develop the sector.
The report argues that life sciences, encompassing research, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and related activities, offers an opportunity to connect New York’s scientific strengths with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s economic agenda, which prioritizes affordability, higher incomes and broader access to opportunity.
Nearly 59,000 people already work in the industry across New York City and adjacent counties, according to CBRE data cited in the report. Expanding the sector could generate additional skilled jobs while strengthening neighborhoods through business investment, research facilities and workforce development, the report says.
Mamdani took office on January 1, 2026, with a commitment to make New York more affordable and ensure that economic growth benefits communities across all five boroughs.
The Builds Bio report argues that life sciences can contribute to these objectives because the industry offers specialized careers with comparatively strong wages and opportunities for long-term economic advancement.
The challenge, according to the report, is not simply attracting more companies to New York. It is building the investment, commercialization and workforce systems needed to help those businesses grow and ensure that the resulting opportunities reach a broader population.
Building on Nearly a Decade of Life Sciences Investment
New York City has spent years attempting to establish itself as a major life sciences hub.
In December 2016, former Mayor Bill de Blasio launched the $500 million LifeSci NYC initiative, targeting the creation of 16,000 high-paying jobs.
The city’s commitment increased to $1 billion in 2021. By early 2025, the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s targets included attracting 1,000 life sciences companies, creating 40,000 jobs and developing 10 million square feet of laboratory space over a 10-to-15-year period. The initiative projected an economic impact of $82 billion.
The program included investments in research and development facilities, incubators, infrastructure, matching funds, internships, tax incentives and zoning reforms.
Builds Bio argues that these mechanisms remain relevant but that New York needs to strengthen the connections between scientific research, early-stage financing, commercialization and job creation.
Developing research capacity alone is not enough. The city must also help promising discoveries become commercially viable businesses, attract capital to young companies and create pathways for local residents to enter the industry.
AI and Biotechnology Create New Opportunities
The report points to artificial intelligence-enabled research and development, digital health and automated manufacturing as important drivers of life sciences growth.
The US life sciences industry employed more than 2.1 million professionals in 2025, according to an industry source cited in the report.
Meanwhile, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that life, physical and social science occupations will grow faster than the average for all occupations over the 2025–2035 period. These occupations represent a broad category of scientific work rather than the life sciences industry alone.
For New York, these trends create an opportunity to build on the city’s research institutions, universities, hospitals and existing technology ecosystem.
Capturing that opportunity, however, will require more than scientific talent. Companies need laboratory facilities, investment, experienced management and skilled workers who can support research, production and commercialization.
Without a stronger ecosystem connecting these elements, the report warns, the city risks missing opportunities to translate its research strengths into sustainable business growth.
London Offers a Potential Blueprint
A central recommendation of the Builds Bio report is to adapt elements of London’s economic development strategy to New York’s circumstances.
The Greater London Authority’s London Growth Plan, published in February 2025, established ambitious income and productivity goals, including a target to increase household income for London’s lowest-earning 20% by 20% and generate an additional £11,000 annually for every Londoner by 2035.
The plan identifies life sciences as one of the industries that can help drive economic growth.
According to Builds Bio, London offers a useful model because it faces challenges similar to New York’s, including gaps in early-stage financing, difficulties commercializing research and workforce development systems that do not reach all communities equally.
The report proposes adapting this framework to New York, focusing on measurable outcomes such as job creation, higher incomes and a more geographically distributed economy.
Rather than treating life sciences solely as a real estate or research investment opportunity, the proposed approach would connect industry development with workforce training, business innovation, infrastructure and neighborhood economic development.
Spreading Opportunities Beyond Manhattan
A major priority is ensuring that life sciences growth reaches communities outside the city’s traditional commercial centers.
The report specifically highlights Brooklyn, the Bronx and Harlem as areas that should benefit more directly from the industry’s expansion.
Achieving that goal would require coordinated investment in facilities, access to capital, workforce training and partnerships among businesses, educational institutions and public agencies.
The report also emphasizes career pathways that enable residents to acquire the skills needed for productive, well-paying work.
For the Mamdani administration, the underlying argument is that economic development should be measured not only by the investment attracted or the number of laboratories constructed, but also by whether the resulting jobs and income gains reach communities that have historically had fewer opportunities to participate in high-growth industries.
Mamdani’s launch of a Business Advisory Council in August 2026, which identified life sciences alongside finance and technology as important sectors, provides a potential avenue for engagement between the city and business leaders.
The Builds Bio report seeks to build on that recognition by outlining a framework for turning the sector’s potential into broader economic benefits.
From Research Strength to Broad-Based Growth
The proposed strategy represents a shift in emphasis from building the physical infrastructure of a life sciences cluster toward developing a more complete economic ecosystem.
That means supporting companies from early-stage research through commercialization, attracting investment, strengthening workforce pipelines and coordinating economic development with housing and infrastructure planning.
The report’s broader argument is that life sciences can contribute to New York’s affordability goals by creating jobs that support higher incomes and generate economic activity in neighborhoods across the city.
Realizing that potential will depend on the city’s ability to address challenges in financing, commercialization, infrastructure and access to training.
New York has already committed substantial resources to developing its life sciences industry. The next phase, Builds Bio argues, should focus on making those investments work harder for businesses and residents alike.
The objective is to build an industry that strengthens New York’s scientific and commercial standing while ensuring that the benefits of growth extend beyond research institutions and established business districts to communities throughout the five boroughs.
