How many U.S. scientists do biomedical research?

May 18, 2006 7:15 AM

I'm writing a business plan for a company that will develop software for scientists doing biomedical research. I need to estimate the size of the market--e.g. how many labs in the U.S. fit this category. One starting point would be the number of grants given out annually by the NIH. Does any one know this number or know where I can find it? Any other suggestions as to how to make this estimate?
posted by Turtles all the way down to science & nature (6 comments total)

You might walk around the grants section of NIH's website. There's tons of pubilc information, e.g.:

• Office of Extramural Research
• Award Trends
• New Investigators/Applicants
posted by Mr. Six at 7:29 AM on May 18, 2006

Don't forget the biotech industry, if your software would suit that type of research. Industry often has more money to throw at "luxuries" like highly-specific software than academia. You could probably find a list of all biotech companies in something like the Thomas Register.
posted by Quietgal at 9:57 AM on May 18, 2006

Once you have that list, you can grab a prospectus for each company detailing its research focus. Financial reports detail R&D expenditures, a percentage of which is devoted to IT purchasing.

Clinicaltrials.gov offers a list of clinical trials, phases and the companies running them. If your software targets a specific research market, you can use the clinical trial list to concentrate your marketing to a group of start-ups, mid-range and larger biopharmaceutical companies.
posted by Mr. Six at 10:16 AM on May 18, 2006

Wonderful--I had poked around the NIH site but hadn't managed to find the useful links suggested; I'd also neglected non-academic facilities. Excellent and helpful answers all--thanks Mr. Six and Quietgal!
posted by Turtles all the way down at 11:51 AM on May 18, 2006

So what exactly are you planning to develop? Because I've got some suggestions...
posted by Mr. Gunn at 2:07 PM on May 18, 2006

My email address is in my profile, Mr. Gunn--I'd love to discuss it with you.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 2:15 PM on May 18, 2006