Report: Health care in S.F. a 'sleeping giant,' but biotechs constrained

San Francisco’s surging biotech industry feeds off a network of research institutions, but lease rates and city red tape remain obstacles to growth, according to a report unveiled Wednesday at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's “ForecastSF” event. The report, prepared by San Francisco State University associate professor of economics Philip King for the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, found that hospital and biomedical spending in San Francisco totals $16.7 billion and is responsible for more than 104,000 jobs, or almost one in five jobs in the city. Mayor Ed Lee called the industry a “sleeping giant.” But the giant is restless, according to the report.