Covid drives historic demand for life sciences real estate and these REITs, report says

Covid drives historic demand for life sciences real estate and these REITs, report says

Research associate Sachi Johnson works at Sorrento Therapeutics where efforts are underway to develop an antibody, STI-1499, to help in prevention of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in San Diego, California, May 22, 2020.Bing Guan | ReutersAll the fundamentals are aligning for the life sciences industry, as Covid-19 accelerates already growing demand for real estate in the sector. Rents are rising for lab space, vacancies are plunging and research and development, and employment and new development are expanding further, thanks to strong venture capital investment. In the top life sciences markets there's currently about 13.9 million square feet of space under construction, but active tenant demand is outpacing that, running at about 14.7 million square feet, according to a new report from CBRE. Lab-space vacancy is historically low at less than 8%