Those figures align with survey results BioNJ released in June that showed the number of biotech companies in the state had surpassed 300, up from 238 in 2008.

BioNJ President Debbie Hart said the job numbers were a bit of a surprise.

Debbie Hart

“The employment number was really larger than we thought,” Hart said. “And the way we arrived at it was very conservatively, so we are very confident that, in fact, the number’s probably even larger.”

Hart said the growth has come both from new companies and new-to-New Jersey companies drawn to the Garden State by its stock of experienced talent, the presence of potential Big Pharma partners, and the state’s proximity to the financial capital of New York and the Maryland-based Food and Drug Administration.

Oncology continues to be the largest area of concentration among the state’s biotechs, with 38 percent of respondents reporting cancer research as their primary focus.

While biotech has grown through the recession, the downturn has made capital much more difficult to obtain, the survey found.

“We’re seeing the gap between the haves and the have-nots widen quite a bit,” said Tony Torrington, New Jersey markets leader for life sciences at Ernst & Young.

Torrington said venture capitalists are being more selective with their investments, and favoring late-stage companies that are closer to bringing their products to market. Late-stage companies are less risky for investors, but Torrington said the development of new drugs and therapies could slow if early-stage companies have to shelve projects due to lack of funding.

Still, the industry appears poised for continued growth. The survey found 78 percent of companies plan to hire additional staff in the coming year, down slightly from 80 percent in 2007. Only 3 percent of respondents said they planned to downsize.

E-mail Jared Kaltwasser at jkaltwasser@njbiz.com