The life sciences sector in Asia holds promise, but finding ways to execute deals can be challenging given we are in the early stages of the sector, according to a recent virtual roundtable with institutional investors and investment managers. The in-depth strategy session, hosted by Institutional Real Estate, Inc, was moderated by Reno Sio, managing director, Asia Pacific, at IREI.

What’s happening in the life sciences sector in Asia is similar to the data science offshoring that was happening 10–15 years ago. The trend should be significant, and durable, but scalability remains a challenge as R&D and drug manufacturing tenants may be in different parts of China, for example.

Factors that make the life sciences sector attractive for investors in India: It is not urban or expensive to build (unlike office assets), and you do not have to provide the fit-out for tenants. Tenants also tend to be more creditworthy, such as “post-breakthrough” tenants looking to