Accelerating Delaware's Life Science Leadership

Delaware’s thriving life science ecosystem includes pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, instrumentation, medical device and diagnostic companies, research, development and manufacturing firms, agricultural biotech, hospital and academic research institutes, and an array of essential business service providers. The sector’s significant recent growth has been fueled by new company formation, strategic investments in key sites and facilities, and the expansion of major global employers. Today, the sector directly supports more than 12,000 jobs across research and development, manufacturing, medical devices, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical production, with thousands more high-value jobs in construction, industrial services, law, accounting, consulting and other fields critical to the industry’s success.

All this activity serves as a source of unrivaled economic value and future opportunity for our state and most importantly, a transformational impact on public health and countless individual lives. However, unique among industries, the research, development and successful manufacturing of life science products and technologies requires immense time, study and investment over many years.

Therefore, to fortify and accelerate this growth – and enhance Delaware’s posture in a competitive regional and indeed international market – it is essential the state continue to advance a visionary strategy focused on supporting the dedicated Delaware scientists who devote their lives to bringing biomedical innovation to patients in need.

This document lays out a series of recommendations and considerations organized around these core objectives:
     • Capital - Sparking and attracting life science innovation and investment
     • Talent - Transforming our STEM workforce
     • Infrastructure - Enhancing and integrating state economic & workforce development efforts
     • Access - Expanding patient access to innovation and reducing costs

These recommendations align perfectly with priorities articulated by Governor Meyer and the General Assembly including investing in STEM education and community quality of life, expanding economic opportunities for all and ensuring access to affordable, state-of-the-art healthcare. Where funding is recommended, we believe these goals can be achieved through smart reallocation, prioritization and more effective targeting of current resources.