The life sciences industry has been developing steadily over the past decade. The global pandemic, along with recent medical advances, has increased awareness of the industry and accelerated investment and business growth. Pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotech companies have been at the forefront of the response to the pandemic, from drug trials and vaccine development to the production of personal protection equipment and ventilators. Companies such as Novavax, BioNTech and Sinovac have become household names.

Though attention has grown recently, the sector has been driving discovery and innovation for decades. The breadth of occupier requirements, coupled with their growth prospects, makes life sciences particularly appealing to property investors. While the US market continues to dominate capital raising in the life sciences industry, accounting for 63% of global investment (M&A, IPO, VC/PE deals) in 2020, according to PitchBook, China saw its market share grow from just 4% over the last five years, to 7% in 2020. In China, a shortage of life science real estate (LSRE) and rapidly growing demand will keep vacancy rates low and push rents to new highs, attracting new investment and compressing yields.

Shanghai establishes itself as a world-class life sciences cluster, with a thriving ecosystem of established firms, start-ups, R&D institutes and healthcare providers.