Seattle boasts the fifth strongest life sciences market in the country, according to a new report from Jones Lang LaSalle, led by world-renowned institutions and startups that have grown to become public companies. More often thought of as a hub for technology, Seattle trails only Boston; the San Francisco Bay Area; Raleigh-Durham and San Diego.

Life sciences makes up Washington state’s fifth largest industry, accounting for $12.5 billion of the state’s gross domestic product, according to the report. In the Seattle area, 959 life sciences organizations employ 24,320 people. A majority of these employees — 51 percent — are focused on research and development. About 44 percent of life sciences companies in the area are focused on R&D, followed by medical equipment manufacturing companies at 16 percent and electromedical equipment manufacturing companies at 13 percent.

Several well-known institutions are based in the Seattle area, such as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Allen Institute for Brain Science and the Institute for Systems Biology. Many of these companies have been bolstered by top local philanthropic organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and educational institutions like the University of Washington.

Until recently, the local tech scene suffered an IPO draught, and the only public companies came out of the life sciences sector. Prior to Impinj and Apptio going public, the last Seattle-area company to complete an IPO was PhaseRx in May. Before that, it was Juno Therapeutics, all the way back in December 2014. In August, Aptevo Therapeutics went public after completing a spinoff from Emergent BioSolutions.

The center of Seattle’s life sciences industry is the South Lake Union neighborhood, which is more commonly known as Amazon’s home. And there is virtually no available space for life sciences companies there. JLL reports a vacancy rate of 2.6 percent in the neighborhood, and that’s mostly because of a new building called Vue Research Center that opened earlier this year. There is only one life sciences building under construction, and Juno Therapeutics has leased a big chunk of it, with options to take the rest.

To help alleviate the space crunch, and provide opportunities for smaller life sciences companies, BioMed Realty recently finished off The Labs @ 201 Elliott, a 43,000-square-foot biotech startup space at the Omeros Building.

The Capitol Hill/First Hill neighborhoods are emerging as powerful life sciences markets due to the presence of UW’s Harborview Medical Center and other hospitals. But that market is still very small, with zero available lab space and no new buildings planned or under construction.

Outside of Seattle, the main life sciences hotspots are in the suburbs of Bothell and Redmond. Both areas focus on manufacturing, as opposed to the research and development emphasis in Seattle. Bothell and Redmond have more available and affordable lab space and could become a good alternative to companies squeezed out of Seattle.