California’s life sciences manufacturing jobs dipped 3.7% in 2024, according to a new Biocom California report. Still, several companies made—and continuing making—significant manufacturing investments in the state as key trends shape the discipline.
Although California’s manufacturing-related life sciences jobs dropped 3.7% year over year in 2024, they still represented 31.2% of the state’s and 29.7% of the country’s life sciences employment, according to a new Biocom California report. California had 141,067 life sciences manufacturing jobs last year.
Biocom President and CEO Tim Scott commented on those roles’ importance to the industry in a press release.
“The prevalence of jobs specifically in manufacturing demonstrates a robust path into the life science industry for California residents from all economic backgrounds, and many community colleges are partnering with industry leaders to develop educational curricula to meet the needs of biomanufacturing companies,” Scott said.
The three largest clusters of life sciences manufacturing employment in California—pharmaceutical preparation, surgical and medical instrument and electromedical apparatus manufacturing—each employ more than 20,000 workers, according to the 2025 economic impact report. The surgical and medical manufacturing cluster increased by 5% in 2024, adding over 1,300 jobs.
Regional Snapshots: Orange County a Manufacturing Hot Spot
Orange County is a manufacturing hot spot in California, according to the report. About 50% of the area’s life sciences jobs were related to the discipline. In addition, Orange County was the state’s only life sciences market to see an uptick in manufacturing positions, which increased 2.6%.
The report noted that those metrics highlight Orange County’s strong track record with med tech and medical device companies, including Masimo and Edwards Lifesciences, based in Irvine, and Staar Surgical, headquartered in Lake Forest.
Although the other California life sciences markets had year-over-year dips in manufacturing jobs, they also had notable milestones in 2024, according to the report. For example:
- Bay Area: Swiss contract manufacturer Lonza acquired Roche’s Genentech biologics manufacturing facility in Vacaville for $1.2 billion. Lonza noted it would invest about $500 million to upgrade the site and would offer about 750 Genentech employees employment.
- Greater Los Angeles: Japan-based pharma Takeda announced a $230 million investment in expanding plasma-derived therapies production capacity in Los Angeles. The company noted that it would create 125 positions.
- San Diego: Swiss-based pharma Novartis announced plans to add a manufacturing facility in Carlsbad that would be its third radioligand therapy production site in the U.S. The location was expected to optimize delivery of medicines to West Coast patients.
Manufacturing in California: What’s Next
Manufacturing in California continues to attract attention in 2025, with multiple companies announcing significant investments. For example, in April, Roche announced it will improve manufacturing and distribution capabilities in California. That same month, Novartis shared it will expand a manufacturing site in the state.
Looking ahead, multiple trends are expected to shape the discipline, according to the report. It first highlighted increased automation and digitalization, such as smart factories and digital twins, as well as a shift toward continuous manufacturing. The report also mentioned the rise of personalized medicine and manufacturers leveraging real-time data and advanced traceability.
“Additionally,” it noted, “companies are building more resilient, localized supply chains and developing specialized capabilities for advanced therapeutics like biologics and gene therapies.”
Want more job market insights? Subscribe to Career Insider to receive our quarterly life sciences job market reports, career advice and more.
