Bulking Up On Biotech

The biopharmaceuticals industry was the second most profitable in the US in 2005. The market capitalization for publicly traded biotech companies alone reached $311 billion. While biotech real estate accounts for an estimated 5% or less of the overall office market, the industry's global financial outlook is stellar. Biotech's other hot spot, San Francisco, is seeing a rebound in development and acquisition of bio properties as well. While the development cost remains high, new medicine is poised to reap huge profits in the coming years. With this expected windfall, real estate investors are still taking a measured approach due to the very unique property demands of the sector.