When it comes to centers for biotech innovation and expansion, well-established locations such as Boston and South San Francisco have long dominated the field. But in the last few years, an array of other cities have emerged to stake their claim by offering government incentives, new developments, a lower cost of living and other advantages.
These regions hope to ride the wave of the life sciences industry’s increased prominence since the pandemic. That attention has helped spark a global real estate boom, with more than 35 million square feet of lab and R&D space under construction in 2024, according to a report from real estate firm CBRE last year.
While Boston and San Francisco remain at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to biotech lab space, Fierce looked at the cities that have been steadily raising their profiles to attract an increasingly global workforce of top talent. They stretch from the postcard-ready Swiss scenery of Basel to the gleaming skyscrapers of Beijing.
We’ve also included a couple of U.S. hubs that may not get the same recognition as their larger peers but are fast becoming major players in their own right. Read on to find out who made the list.
Beijing
While Shanghai is known as China’s “Pharma Alley,” Beijing is close behind, having become a significant driver of the country’s rise as a global biopharma powerhouse. With a population of around 21 million—significantly more than the combined populations of the leading U.S. biotech hubs of Boston and San Francisco—China’s capital has no shortage of scale.
Two of Beijing’s primary biotech clusters are Zhongguancun Life Science Park and the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA). Zhongguancun is home to more than 600 innovation-focused pharmaceutical companies, 21 postdoctoral research centers, 10 national engineering research centers and key laboratories, and 16 R&D centers. It also hosts cancer- and autoimmune-focused InnoCare Pharma, as well as the China headquarters of BeOne Medicines.
The BDA is another major life sciences hub that has attracted significant investment from multinational pharmaceutical companies. In 2021, AstraZeneca opened its sixth global R&D center in the district as part of a $2.5 billion investment that tied in partnerships with Harbour BioMed, Syneron Bio and BioKangtai. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly announced plans in 2024 to build the Lilly China Medical Innovation Center, designed to improve clinical trial efficiency and streamline drug registration reviews.
As recently as November 2025, Bayer opened a new incubator in the BDA to support Chinese biopharma startups, launching the initiative with Puhe BioPharma and Youngen as its first resident companies.
The BDA offers more than 9 million square feet of leasable life sciences space, while Zhongguancun has nearly 6 million square feet and the China Bio-Medicine Park adds another 6 million square feet, according to a CBRE report.
The same report found that life sciences venture capital funding in Beijing peaked at nearly $3 billion in 2021 during the COVID-19-era biotech boom and has been on a downward trend since. Still, the market attracted $637 million in venture funding in 2024.
China has been quick to support strategic industries through state funding, and Beijing benefits not only from government-backed life sciences developments but also from its concentration of leading research institutions and universities. Those include the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Tsinghua University and the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing.
As Beijing’s biotech momentum continues to build, it could also heighten tensions in Washington. China’s industry has come under increasing scrutiny from U.S. policymakers, with some lawmakers proposing legislation that would increase oversight of collaborations between U.S. businesses and Chinese biotechs while potentially limiting American investment in the country.
London
CBRE has predicted that London will be the “pacesetter” for biotech development across Europe for the foreseeable future, and recent industry data appear to support that outlook.
After a challenging period, the U.K.’s BioIndustry Association (BIA) said there are signs of recovery in England’s capital, noting that total equity financing raised by U.K. companies reached 552 million pounds ($746 million) in the first quarter of 2026, an 18% increase from the 466 million pounds ($632 million) raised in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Venture capital investment also increased, with British biotechs raising 516 million pounds ($699 million) in the first three months of this year, up 17% from 442 million pounds ($599 million) in the previous quarter. Although funding levels were higher in the first quarter of 2025, capital was distributed more broadly this year, with 25 companies securing financing in the first quarter of 2026 compared with 15 in the same period a year earlier.
After a prolonged drought of British biotech IPOs, BIA Director of Policy and External Affairs Matt Turner told Fierce earlier this year that he is beginning to see signs of renewed interest from companies in going public—although at the time of publication no U.K. biotechs had listed so far in 2026.
London’s strength as a biotech hub begins with its world-renowned universities, including University College London, King’s College London and Imperial College London. The city is also home to leading research institutions such as the Francis Crick Institute, the Wellcome Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research.
As one of Europe’s leading destinations for biotech and AI investment, London also boasts a substantial pipeline of life sciences real estate. According to CBRE’s report, 2.7 million square feet of lab and life sciences space was under construction as of last year. Much of that development is concentrated in established innovation districts, including the King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter, Canary Wharf and the White City Innovation District.
Located in central London, the Knowledge Quarter is the city’s largest and most established life sciences hub, bringing together academic, cultural, research, scientific and technology organizations. As one of Europe’s largest life sciences clusters, the neighborhood employs approximately 59,500 people across 176 companies, including dedicated research facilities for the likes of Novo Nordisk, GSK and AstraZeneca.
Canary Wharf, on the Isle of Dogs along the River Thames, is home to more than 40 life sciences and healthcare organizations occupying more than 90,000 square feet of lab and office space. Meanwhile, the White City Innovation District is anchored by Imperial College London’s campus, which includes the School of Public Health, the Molecular Sciences Research Hub, the multidisciplinary Sir Michael Uren Hub and more than 100 life sciences companies.
Seattle
Long known as a technology hub and home to the headquarters of Amazon and Microsoft, Seattle is also emerging as a major center for life sciences, with a growing number of biotechs calling the region home.
As the industry increasingly embraces AI, the Emerald City may be well positioned to become an even more influential player. Seattle ranks third, behind only San Francisco and New York, in AI specialty talent in the U.S., according to a CBRE report.
It’s perhaps no surprise when you consider that Greater Seattle boasts one of the nation’s most highly educated populations. According to 2024 Census data, 70% of Seattle residents aged 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, and approximately 58% of college graduates living in the city majored in a science or science-related field.
More than 31,000 people work in Seattle’s life sciences industry, including 17,000 in research and development. The region is home to companies such as Shape Therapeutics, which is developing RNA-editing therapies for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as genomics company Variant Bio, which signed a $120 million deal with Boehringer Ingelheim in January to develop therapies targeting cardiorenal and kidney diseases. Seattle-based Curevo, which developed a shingles vaccine candidate, was acquired by Eli Lilly in May in a deal worth up to $1.5 billion biobucks as the pharma expanded its infectious disease pipeline.
Growth has not been universal, however—Astellas announced in April that it will close its stem cell unit’s Seattle site, resulting in 55 layoffs.
Still, companies like Shape and Variant helped attract $5.1 billion in venture capital funding to the Seattle region between 2019 and 2024, the twelfth highest total globally during that period, according to CBRE. As of 2025, there were 9.4 million square feet of life sciences lab and R&D space spread across downtown Seattle and nearby Bothell, with another 500,000 square feet under construction.
According to the public-private economic development organization Greater Seattle Partners, more than 108 investors poured $2.6 billion across 37 private early-stage life sciences deals in Washington state in 2024. CBRE also ranked Seattle among the nation’s top 10 destinations for National Institutes of Health funding, with organizations in the region receiving $1.1 billion for healthcare and scientific research—the ninth-highest total in the U.S.
Basel
Basel, Switzerland, is home to Roche and Novartis, two of the world’s largest pharma companies, helping this city of fewer than 200,000 people punch well above its weight.
What’s changed in recent years is a thriving biotech ecosystem that has taken root beneath the towering presence of its flagship companies. Around 800 life sciences companies now have a presence in the city, according to Christof Klöpper, Ph.D., CEO of Basel Area Business & Innovation (BABI).
That growth includes companies such as CDMO giant Lonza and BeOne Medicines, which inaugurated its European headquarters in Basel in 2022.
The University of Basel, a leading life sciences research institution, has helped anchor the city’s growth, turning Basel into a “small city that’s totally focused on life sciences,” Klöpper said in an interview last year.
A major driver of that expansion has been the Basel Innovation Hub (BIH), located within Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area. The campus—which Fierce visited last year—houses emerging biotech companies alongside corporate R&D teams and is expanding from 80,000 square meters to 120,000 square meters. The site offers private and shared laboratory space as well as built-to-suit lab and office facilities for startups, scaling biotech companies, and larger organizations looking to establish a presence in the growing ecosystem.
Johnson & Johnson set up offices at the BIH in 2022 and has since been joined by antibody-drug conjugate company Alentis Therapeutics, Versant Ventures-backed Bright Peak Therapeutics, and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, to name a few.
Funding has also fueled Basel’s life sciences expansion. Support from organizations such as the Swiss Innovation Agency and Deep Tech Nation Switzerland has helped finance innovation and startup growth. Swiss biotech companies raised 2.6 billion Swiss francs (about $3.2 billion) in 2025, a 2.1% increase from the previous year. This included an $80 million series A for Basel-based, sleep apnea-focused Mosanna Therapeutics.
Basel’s location at the intersection of Switzerland, France and Germany also provides a competitive advantage by giving companies access to a deep cross-border talent pool.
“I think what makes Switzerland more of a [biotech] hub as a nation is the fact that the country is quite small and everything is quite close,” Swiss Biotech Association’s Maximilien Murone, Ph.D., told Fierce last year. “So it doesn’t take much time to go from one location in Zurich to Basel [or] Basel to west Switzerland.”
Chicago
The Windy City has long been anchored by AbbVie, which maintains its corporate headquarters just north of Chicago. But startups and smaller biotechs are also emerging from the region’s leading academic institutions, including the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.
As the third-largest metropolitan area in the U.S., Chicago has both the real estate capacity and talent pipeline to support a growing life sciences sector. According to a CBRE report, around 59,000 people work in the region’s life sciences industry, including more than 13,000 in R&D roles.
Venture capital is also increasingly flowing in. Between 2019 and 2024, life sciences companies in the Chicago area raised $1.9 billion in venture funding, with investment increasing 55% between 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, the National Institutes of Health awarded $1.1 billion in healthcare and life sciences research funding in the Chicago area in fiscal year 2024.
Real estate developers have also helped build critical mass for the region’s life sciences ecosystem. In 2020, Fulton Labs opened just northwest of downtown, adding 725,000 square feet of wet and dry lab and office space. Life sciences, medtech and bioinformatics startup platform Portal Innovations has established a major presence at the campus.
Last year, Hyde Park Labs opened with approximately 300,000 square feet of life sciences space designed to support research driven by the University of Chicago’s strengths in science, engineering and quantum technologies. Further north, the Illinois Science and Technology Park in Skokie spans 22 acres and includes 1 million square feet of build-to-suit space for biosciences, nanotechnology, medical devices and other emerging technologies.
Beyond AbbVie, Chicago is also home to Astellas’ U.S. headquarters. Actuate Therapeutics, which emerged from the region’s university research ecosystem before setting up in Texas, recently shared promising phase 2 data boosting survival for pancreatic cancer patients.
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/top-emerging-biotech-hubs-2026
