This sector is research based and has found the East Bay to be an ideal location due to its good transportation linkages along the I-80 corridor and proximity to U.C. Berkeley and other research institutions. Other smaller firms, which are busy developing an array of biotech-based products, have also chosen to locate in the East Bay. Over 13,000 employees work in biotech firms in the Bay Area, with over 3,000 employees in East Bay firms. Larger pharmaceutical companies like Bayer and Merck still dominate the industry. However, increasingly the larger companies, which produce and market a range of products, rely on smaller firms to discover and develop new technologies that the larger firms would not be likely to tackle.
Drug development is a long and risky process.
Berkeley has become a center for biotechnology research and production. The Bayer Corporation recently announced that it will expand its Berkeley production plant over the next few years, possibly increasing employment to1,600 employees. Bayer develops and produces protein-based pharmaceuticals at its Berkeley plant. For example, Bayer produces a product known as Factor 8 in Berkeley, an important product for the treatment of over10,000 persons throughout the world who suffer from hemophilia. Bayer recently relocated the research facility that supports its Berkeley plant from Connecticut to new lab space at 717 Potter Street in West Berkeley.