Top Eight Reasons to Grow Here

Anchoring the 4th largest biotech hub in the U.S., Montgomery County’s life sciences sector is growing its footprint and investments in the future. Here are eight reasons to make Montgomery County, Maryland your choice to expand and grow your business:

#1: Partnerships to fast track and commercialize products

For growing immunology companies, finding strong partnerships is critical. Montgomery County emerges as the perfect location to find collaborations along the entire life sciences pipeline, with companies ready to do business including Lonza, Catalent, MaxCyte, Charles River Labs and Saint Gobain.

#2: Access to top talent

Montgomery County has the exceptional talent to shape the workforce needed to launch new products and ideas. More than 31% of adults have earned an advanced degree. Montgomery County is the most populous in the state, which ranks first for PhD scientists and has one of the highest concentrations of STEM jobs.

#3: Co-locate with NIH and FDA  

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest researcher of human health, along with its National Cancer Institute (NCI) are located in Montgomery County. Find unprecedented proximity to NIH’s great minds and real-time access to developments. NIH is one of the 18 federal agency headquarters in the county, along with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

#4: Tax Credits & Incentives – and a ‘first’

Montgomery County is first in the country with a local biotechnology investment tax credit. In addition, there are dozens of tax credits and incentives available, locally and from the state. Explore the Biotechnology Investor Incentive Program, the SBIR/STTR match programs, the New Jobs Tax Credit and many more to fuel success.

#5: A magnet for funding and VC investment

2021 was a record-breaking year for investment in Montgomery County life sciences companies. More than $5.7 billion was invested across dozens of companies through IPO, private investment and venture capital funding. Companies are securing investment to maximize growth. 

#6: Global companies land here

Companies from around the world find a U.S. home in Montgomery County including Aurinia (Canada); Autolus, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline (U.K.); Qiagen (Germany); Nobelpharma (Japan); Genetron and Tasly Pharmaceuticals (China); GMED (France); and Macrogen (South Korea).

#7: The most federal labs of any state  

With 36 federal labs in the county and 82 in the state, companies can find unparalleled tech transfer opportunities. These assets support companies looking to partner with federal labs for research & development and technological breakthroughs.

#8: Wet lab expansion and affordability

With high demand, Montgomery County is expanding available wet lab space, with more than 1.5M SF of new lab space under construction and many new projects in the planning stages Support for life sciences expansion is a high priority. The county recently passed an amendment to streamline the approval process for biohealth facilities and create a Biohealth Priority Campus. According to Pete Briskman of JLL, price is a major factor: “Compare our rents in Montgomery County to the top three. We are nearly half what those rents are in Boston and San Francisco. There’s a reason why people want to come here.”

This article was originally published in the 2022 March/April issue of Business Facilities magazine.