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The life sciences industry might be one of South Carolina’s best-kept secrets. The Palmetto State has more than 1,000 such companies headquartered here, and the state has the sixth-fastest-growing life sciences industry in the country, with a $25 billion annual economic impact.

In February, hundreds of businesses and stakeholders gathered in Charleston for the 2025 Life Sciences Conference put on by SCbio, the nonprofit industry association and economic development organization that aims to raise the profile of the life sciences industry in the state.

The conference featured speakers discussing innovation districts, advancements in women’s health, progress in disease treatments, legislation, and more.

When people think of technological innovation or groundbreaking medical research, the first areas that come to mind are likely Boston or Silicon Valley or North Carolina’s Research Triangle. So how has South Carolina been able to establish such a robust life sciences presence in recent years?

“It’s sort of a confluence of a lot of things,” James Chappell, president of SCbio, said in an interview at the conference. “I think that a lot of companies, once they’re here, they keep expanding and topping off because they like the quality of life and the business climate and everything else. And that’s driving a lot of growth. And I think there’s just more of a focus with our universities in the state to drive these earlier-stage innovative companies.”

South Carolina has seen an increase in population in recent years, which has certainly helped fuel the blossoming of biotech in the Palmetto State. While much of the activity is concentrated in Greenville and Charleston, life sciences companies have a presence in 42 of the state’s 46 counties, according to SCbio.

In Greenville, Main Street Labs acts as a laboratory hub for medical research, while Blue Sky Labs on Charleston’s Calhoun Street, opened last year by the Medical University of South Carolina, provides lab space for life science companies as well as programming for early-stage entrepreneurs.

The next biotech innovation district is likely to happen in Columbia, Chappell said.

“We are talking about doing something but are not there yet,” Chappell said. “With all of the BullStreet development and the neurology hospital and the new med school, that’s a perfect fit. So that is certainly on the radar, but it just hasn’t happened yet.”

Companies around the state are pioneering new cancer treatments, exploring women’s health challenges in ways that are unique to female physiology, and sharing their visions for health care innovation.

Speaking at the conference, Courtney Billington, former North America head of government affairs for Johnson & Johnson, praised South Carolina’s “thriving bioscience industry,” but he also pointed out the ultimate grass-roots impact of the industry’s work.

South Carolina, Billington said, “is positioned for growth, and as we think about the impact that we can have across the state, it’s to ensure that patients have healthier lives, that we create thriving and healthier workforces, which ultimately can lead to greater growth.”

Despite the strides it has made in recent years, South Carolina still faces challenges as it builds up the life sciences industry in the state.

One challenge is “just getting in the consideration set, getting on the radar for people,” Chappell said, adding that conferences like SCbio are a great help in getting the Palmetto State into the minds of corporate leaders.

Even then, many in the life sciences community still aren’t aware of the state’s commitment to the industry, thinking that neighboring North Carolina is the only Carolina with a thriving biotech community, Chappell said.

But awareness isn’t the only challenge in boosting the state’s biotech profile. A more robust infrastructure needs to be in place, one that includes access to venture capital and a network of mentors, he said.

“You have to have the right infrastructure for them and make sure they have a place to grow,” he said.

Venture capital is particularly challenging, because “if you look at the stats, Boston and the Bay Area and a couple other places eat up the vast, vast majority of venture capital. So that’s why it’s so important that we partner with MassBio and Drive, because we’re bringing in investors and big pharma companies that just weren’t looking at South Carolina before. So we have to keep showing people, there are things happening here, and you may want to take a second look.”

The partnership with MassBio includes an accelerator program for emerging life sciences companies that includes mentorship, networking opportunities, and a financial stipend. The program began last year with an inaugural class of seven companies.

It’s exciting to see new companies beginning to make their marks, but Chappell understands that the road isn’t always smooth for a life sciences company in South Carolina.

When a biotech company fails, he said, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the science was faulty, but rather it could be from a lack of investors or marketing skills.

Another challenge is that the average person might not be familiar with the names of life sciences companies. Most South Carolinians understand the significance of a BMW or Boeing doing business in the state, but they might not be as familiar with a company like ThermoFisher – “a household name in science but not necessarily a household name to the average person,” Chappell said.

“That’s one of the things to help our stakeholders in the state to know what an opportunity this is and to educate them about, ‘Yeah, you may have never heard of this company, but they’re making life-changing, lifesaving products and therapies and devices and everything else,’” he said. “That’s one of the challenges we face, but it’s all just about education.”

The biotech industry in South Carolina has become one of the state’s selling points. According to SCbio, the life sciences industry has a $25.7 billion annual economic impact, and has seen growth of 42 percent since 2017.

Chappell said he’s happy to see so much activity around the life sciences industry, but asked about SCbio’s proudest accomplishment, he doesn’t hesitate.

“For me, it probably is our accelerator program because that went so quickly from an idea to reality, and the fact that the name brands that are associated with it, the fact that Eli Lilly is such a close partner, that Biogen is a close partner, that Novartis is on our review board,” Chappell said. “… Our first cohort was literally applications from all over the world, and this one is even better. We’re reviewing applications right now, and they’re world-class (companies) out of world-class universities and world-class people, so just the awareness of the companies who’ve come down and the partners we have from the pharma and biotech companies and investors has really just accelerated that awareness of South Carolina really quickly.”