Short answer
The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro had 31 pharmaceutical manufacturing establishments in 2023 with 5,636 employees (Census County Business Patterns). Snohomish County's 12 establishments employ 4,635; King County's 17 employ 792. FDA's file lists Juno Therapeutics (registered to Bristol Myers Squibb) and AGC Biologics in Bothell and Just-Evotec Biologics in Redmond. Adaptive Biotechnologies is the largest listed company headquartered there, with $277.0 million of 2025 revenue. The metro also had 112 biotech R&D establishments.
- Snohomish County has 12 of the metro's 31 drug plants but 4,635 of its 5,636 jobs.
- Average pay works out to $233,683, but the payroll behind it is a high-noise Census figure.
- Biotech R&D establishments (112, with 5,359 jobs) outnumber drug plants more than three to one.
- FDA's file lists Seagen's Bothell lab under Pfizer and Juno's Bothell plant under Bristol Myers Squibb.
- Adaptive Biotechnologies, the largest listed company based in the metro, reported $277.0 million of 2025 revenue and 624 full-time employees.
On this page
This report is for scientists, operators and engineers sizing up Seattle-area employers, for suppliers and partners, and for sellers covering Puget Sound. It uses the Census Bureau's Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro (King, Pierce and Snohomish counties) and checks every listed company in its own 10-K.
The Seattle numbers
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 3254 (Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area (CBSA 42660):
| Measure (2023) | Seattle metro |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 31 |
| Employees | 5,636 |
| Annual payroll | $1,317,037,000 (high-noise figure) |
| Average employees per establishment | 181.8 |
| Average annual pay | $233,683 (from the high-noise payroll) |
| Share of US establishments | 1.07% of 2,901 |
The Census Bureau published the payroll but flagged it high-noise: the noise it adds for confidentiality changed the value by 5% or more. The employee count carries a lower noise flag, so treat the $233,683 average as approximate. Even allowing for that, it's well above the $146,055 Boston average.
| Employees per establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 7 |
| 5 to 9 | 7 |
| 10 to 19 | not published |
| 20 to 49 | 3 |
| 50 to 99 | 3 |
| 100 to 249 | 6 |
| 250 or more | not published |
The unpublished cells hold 5 establishments between them (our subtraction from the total). By product, 14 establishments make finished-dose pharmaceuticals, 7 medicinal chemicals and botanicals, 6 biological products and 4 diagnostic substances; only the diagnostics employee total (484) is published without a high-noise flag.
Where the jobs are
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| King | 17 | 792 |
| Snohomish | 12 | 4,635 |
The other 2 establishments are in Pierce County, which isn't published because the Census Bureau releases a county figure only when it covers three or more. Snohomish is the manufacturing county: it includes northern Bothell, where FDA's file (by ZIP code) puts most of the metro's biologics sites.
What the count misses
CBP counts locations with paid employees, not firms, and excludes the self-employed. Code 3254 is manufacturing only, so head offices, labs and distributors are counted in other industries. In Seattle the labs matter most: 112 biotechnology R&D establishments (NAICS 541714) with 5,359 employees in 2023. The metro also had 91 drug wholesale establishments (NAICS 424210) with 1,236. The Seattle biotech market report covers the labs.
Registered drug sites
Sites that make, pack or test drugs for US patients register with FDA, which publishes them in the Drug Establishments Current Registration Site (DECRS). For King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, our count of the 30 October 2026 download found 30 registrations: 10 that make finished drugs or active ingredients, 9 medical gas suppliers (our classification by firm name), 4 packers or relabelers, 2 testing labs and 5 others (mostly oxygen transfill sites).
| Site (FDA file) | Town | What it's registered for | Registrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juno Therapeutics | Bothell | Active ingredient, manufacture, label, pack | Bristol Myers Squibb Company |
| AGC Biologics | Bothell | Active ingredient manufacture | AGC Biologics |
| Seattle Children's Hospital | Bothell | Manufacture | Seattle Children's Hospital |
| Seagen | Bothell | Testing | Pfizer Inc |
| Partner Therapeutics | Lynnwood | Active ingredient manufacture | Partner Therapeutics |
| Just-Evotec Biologics | Redmond | Active ingredient manufacture | Just-Evotec Biologics |
| Bloodworks | Seattle | Manufacture | Bloodworks |
| Juno Therapeutics | Seattle | Testing | Bristol Myers Squibb Company |
Registrant names are as filed, and being registered is not an FDA approval.
Listed companies headquartered in the metro
SEC EDGAR lists 9 companies in the drug and biological product codes (SIC 2833 to 2836) with a Seattle-area business address. Checked in each 10-K for 2025:
| Company | Headquarters (10-K cover) | Revenue, 2025 | Employees reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adaptive Biotechnologies | 1165 Eastlake Avenue East, Seattle | $277.0 million | 624 full-time |
| Immunome | 18702 N. Creek Parkway, Bothell | $6.9 million (collaboration) | 177 full-time |
| Perspective Therapeutics | 2401 Elliott Avenue, Seattle | none reported | 166 (12 March 2026) |
The others are smaller: Omeros (Seattle, 175 full-time employees), Atossa Therapeutics (Seattle, 14 full-time employees plus two executive officers), LeonaBio (Bothell, 19), Cocrystal Pharma (Bothell, 10), Achieve Life Sciences (Bothell and Vancouver) and Aptevo Therapeutics (Seattle). The large employers in Bothell report through parents headquartered elsewhere; see the largest pharmaceutical companies for Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb.
Checking a Washington company
- State licence. FDA lists the Washington State Department of Health as the agency that licenses wholesale drug distributors, and the department issues pharmaceutical firm licences; its facility search covers them.
- FDA history. Use FDA's Data Dashboard for inspections, warning letters and recalls at each registered site.
- The network. Life Science Washington, the state's life sciences trade association, runs a member directory, a career center and regular events in Seattle.
Selling to Seattle drug companies
| Account type | Examples | Who to contact |
|---|---|---|
| Biologics and cell therapy plants | Bothell, Redmond, Lynnwood sites | Facilities, engineering, quality |
| Research-stage listed companies | Immunome, Omeros, Perspective | Head of operations or CMC |
| Lab-based biotechs | the 112 R&D establishments | Lab manager or founder |
Worked example: a cleanroom HVAC contractor
Illustrative example. The contractor and its prices are invented; the counts come from CBP 2023 and FDA's registration file.
Cascade Cleanroom Mechanical (cascadecleanroom.example) maintains and recertifies cleanroom air handling.
- Start with the plants. The 10 registered manufacturing sites, plus the 6 establishments with 100 to 249 employees in CBP, cover the large cleanrooms.
- Add the labs. R&D establishments with 20 or more employees often run small classified suites; CBP shows at least 41 in the metro.
- Do the arithmetic. Two plant contracts at $140,000 a year and 8 lab contracts at $18,000 bring $424,000.
Knowing which labs have classified space is the slow part; Bebop researches each account and suggests the facilities lead to contact.
Next step: compare another research-heavy, small-plant market in the Boston pharmaceutical market report.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- 2023 County Business Patterns datasets (metro and county files, NAICS 3254, 424210 and 541714), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- County Business Patterns methodology (noise flags and publication rule), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Drug Establishments Current Registration Site (DECRS), US Food and Drug Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
- DECRS annual registration status download (drls_reg.zip), US Food and Drug Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
- Check licensure of wholesale drug distributors and third-party logistics providers, US Food and Drug Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
- Pharmaceutical firms, Washington State Department of Health, accessed 30 October 2026
- FDA Data Dashboard, US Food and Drug Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
- Life Science Washington, Life Science Washington, accessed 30 October 2026
- Adaptive Biotechnologies Form 10-K for 2025, Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, filed 26 February 2026
- Immunome Form 10-K for 2025, Immunome, Inc., via SEC EDGAR, filed 3 March 2026
- Perspective Therapeutics Form 10-K for 2025, Perspective Therapeutics, Inc., via SEC EDGAR, filed 16 March 2026
- Omeros Form 10-K for 2025, Omeros Corporation, via SEC EDGAR, filed 31 March 2026
- Atossa Therapeutics Form 10-K for 2025, Atossa Therapeutics, Inc., via SEC EDGAR, filed 25 March 2026
- LeonaBio Form 10-K for 2025, LeonaBio, Inc., via SEC EDGAR, filed 31 March 2026
- Cocrystal Pharma Form 10-K for 2025, Cocrystal Pharma, Inc., via SEC EDGAR, filed 31 March 2026
- Achieve Life Sciences Form 10-K for 2025, Achieve Life Sciences, Inc., via SEC EDGAR, filed 24 March 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many pharmaceutical companies are in Seattle?
Census County Business Patterns counted 31 pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing establishments in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro in 2023, with 5,636 employees, plus 112 biotechnology R&D establishments with 5,359. FDA's drug registration file lists 30 registered drug sites in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, and SEC EDGAR shows 9 listed drug companies with a Seattle-area address.
What pharmaceutical companies have sites in Bothell?
FDA's drug registration file lists Juno Therapeutics (registered to Bristol Myers Squibb), AGC Biologics, Seattle Children's Hospital and a Seagen testing lab (registered to Pfizer) in Bothell. Immunome, LeonaBio, Cocrystal Pharma and Achieve Life Sciences give Bothell addresses in their 10-Ks. Census data shows Snohomish County, which includes northern Bothell, with 4,635 drug manufacturing jobs.
What is the largest pharmaceutical company headquartered in Seattle?
Among listed companies in the drug and biological product codes, Adaptive Biotechnologies of Seattle reported the most 2025 revenue in its 10-K, $277.0 million, with 624 full-time employees. The other listed companies based in the metro, including Immunome, Omeros and Perspective Therapeutics, are much smaller. The largest manufacturing sites belong to companies headquartered elsewhere.
How much do pharmaceutical jobs pay in Seattle?
Census County Business Patterns shows $1.32 billion of payroll for 5,636 drug manufacturing employees in the Seattle metro in 2023, about $233,683 each. The payroll figure is flagged as high-noise, meaning the Census Bureau's confidentiality noise changed it by 5% or more, so treat the average as approximate. It covers every job at those sites.