The biotech industry cluster in the suburban Maryland/greater Washington area has high national rankings (within the top 10 for biotech regions) but its very success could stifle future growth.

The Baltimore Business Journal reports:

“The region is the healthiest it has been in about a decade because of tenant growth, number of life sciences companies, mergers and acquisitions, a lowering vacancy rate and rising rental rates,” said Pete Briskman, a managing director in JLL’s Bethesda office. “However, that could also mean fewer opportunities in the future.”

Greater Washington’s life sciences hub could be facing a squeeze in coming years as companies progress to the point in the regulatory process where they would seek to expand into drug manufacturing because of the shrinking vacancy rate.

That was among the observations from JLL’s Life Sciences Outlook for 2016, which shows just how far the local industry has to go to compare to some of the largest clusters in the U.S. like Boston, San Francisco or the Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle.

Read The Baltimore Business Journal  for more information.