support also comes from

Nationwide, venture capital investments in the life sciences industries fell by 14% in 2012 compared to 2011. That represents a drop of more than $1 billion in private funding. Fewer than a 140 such companies received venture capital funding last year, the lowest level since 1995.

Tracy Lefteroff of Pricewaterhouse Coopers says the loss of funding could hurt the development of everything from pharmaceuticals to medical devices.

“If you look at where the new product pipelines are, it’s coming from young venture-backed companies that then either are either acquired by the larger company or actually take the product to market themselves.”

Lefteroff notes the largest expense for a biotech company is payroll.  He says the loss of funding could hurt employment in life sciences clusters all over the country, including Houston.