An industry trade publication is telling the story of the growing life sciences ecosystem in the Lehigh Valley.
Bio.News, a daily news website exploring biotechnology and innovation, published an article Aug. 1 titled, “The Lehigh Valley is paving the way for success in life sciences.” Bio.News has a readership of about 20,000. 
Written by Don Cunningham, President and CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. (LVEDC), the article explores the growth of OraSure Technologies from a startup in the Ben Franklin Technology Partners business incubator to a world leader with more than 700 employees and annual revenues approaching $400 million.
The Lehigh Valley is home to more than 170 life sciences facilities: offices, manufacturing plants, research and development operations, laboratories, and distribution centers. Life sciences companies have added 1.3 million square feet of industrial building space in the Lehigh Valley since 2020.
In 2022, B. Braun Medical, which has its U.S. headquarters in the Lehigh Valley, completed a $200 million expansion of its Lehigh Valley manufacturing plant. The expansion nearly doubled the plant’s footprint and will, as it comes to full capacity, add 200 jobs to the 2,000 B. Braun already provides in the region.
In total, the growing life sciences sector employs more than 6,500 people. Jobs in the life sciences are among the best-paying in the region.
“Life sciences companies have been important contributors to an overall economic transformation of the Lehigh Valley,” Cunningham wrote.
The reasons that life sciences companies choose the Lehigh Valley are because of its labor supply, its location, and its available infrastructure, Cunningham explained.
The region is one of the fastest growing population centers in Pennsylvania, most notably among the 18-to-34 age group. A labor force of 1.7 million people lives within a one-hour drive. Life sciences companies can access talent from the Lehigh Valley’s 11 colleges and universities, plus top research universities that are nearby.
“A two-county region in eastern Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley is about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, 90 miles west of New York City, and within a one-day drive of about one-third of the U.S. population. It sits at the center of the life sciences and biotechnology ‘supercluster’ on the East Coast that stretches from New England to the Carolinas,” Cunningham wrote.
Companies can move products easily by road, rail, air, or sea because the Lehigh Valley is at the crossroads of major cross-country highways, has an intermodal rail terminal, and is close to multiple international airports and seaports, including the port of New York and New Jersey, the largest container port on the East Coast.