Being close to scientific innovators is key
Cambridge and San Diego are two main centers for innovation in life sciences, according to GlaxoSmithKline. Actually the big pharma established a “first-of-its-kind collaboration” with San Diego’s Avalon Ventures in 2013; lastly it has opened a small office in San Diego to manage its R&D partnerships and to prospect for more deals on the West Coast. GSK also set up a similar outpost in 2014 in Kendall Square, the Cambridge, MA, neighborhood that has become the pharmaceutical industry’s East Coast hub and is close to Harvard, MIT, and the Broad Institute.
