More than 24,000 people are directly employed in this industry, where the average annual wage is $142,900. The sector contributes almost $10 billion to the regional economy and accounts for 2.5% of area’s employment.
North Carolina leads the nation in vaccine manufacturing and has the world’s largest concentration of contract research organizations. To get a glimpse of the industry’s footprint in the region, and discover other facts and figures download our regional life science brochure.
Companies
Employees
Average Annual Salary
Contribution to Gross Regional Product
Employment Growth Rate
Location Quotient
The Research Triangle Region is home to 7 of the top 10 Contract Research Organization’s in the world.
| Business Name | Address | Number of employees in the Triangle | Number of employees in N.C. | Total Number of employees companywide | |
| 1 | Iqvia
iqvia.com |
Durham, NC | 2,500 | 4,800 | 59,000 |
| 2 | RTI International
rti.org |
RTP, NC | 2,037 | 2,197 | 4,962 |
| 3 | PPD ppdi.com | Morrisville, NC | 2,000 | 3,500 | 20,000 |
| 4 | Syneos Health syneoshealth.com | Morrisville, NC | 1,800 | 2,500 | 23,000 |
| 5 | Duke Clinical Research Institute
dcri.org |
Durham, NC | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,300 |
Novo Nordisk is a global corporation with more than 42,000 employees in 79 countries. They work every day to find ways to defeat serious chronic conditions and are recognized as a world leader in diabetes care.
The company’s Clayton (Johnston County) facility — home to the its primary U.S. diabetes manufacturing facility — recently announced a $2 billion expansion that will add another 1,000 jobs by 2020.
Novo Nordisk is not only a great economic engine for the Research Triangle Region and the state of North Carolina, they’re also an outstanding environmental steward and corporate citizen. Needless to say, the Research Triangle Region is incredibly fortunate to have Novo Nordisk and companies like them doing business here.
As a private, non-profit, state-funded corporation, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center provides access to the people and resources companies need to get started in North Carolina. This includes identifying local talent and working with local government and economic development agencies to overcome challenges specific to life science. NCBiotech offers office space in its Landing Pad for relocating companies and grants to address gaps in infrastructure.
For the past 35 years, NCBiotech has supported the progression of ideas from research lab to marketplace. Consequently, North Carolina’s life science community is comprised of 700+ companies employing 64,500+ employees. NCBiotech continues to invest in technology development through grants and in company development through loans.
To learn more, visit ncbiotech.org/whync.
