Leadership in the healthcare and life science industry requires the ability to delegate, inspire, and communicate effectively. A prominent leader should possess strong interpersonal skills and have effective decision-making and problem-solving skills. Austin Barrett, Vice Chairman of Savills North America, is one such leader who has integrated real estate with the health care and life science industry. He provides clients with the most transparent and strategic guidance for real estate facilities and operational needs. He commits to helping clients solve complex real estate issues as they scale their science and people platforms.
An Inspirational Journey
Austin Barrett was introduced to the life science industry at a family dinner long before his career began. His father was a serial MedTech entrepreneur, and he learned through his stories how medical devices were developed and commercialized to solve critical unmet health needs. But by the time he started his career, selling to doctors was no longer easy. So he decided to join a large real estate development company in Boston. He worked with some of the world’s largest life sciences and tech companies, including Biogen, Broad Institute, and Google.
During this period, Austin realized that these growing companies didn’t have the internal resources to solve complex real estate problems. They needed assistance in integrating their people, science, and operations into physical space. He joined T3 Advisors to launch their West Coast real estate consulting business that focused on supporting life sciences organizations. This opportunity allowed him to combine his passion for helping companies deliver products and therapies to patients with efficient and cost-effective strategies. He achieved this through his background in real estate.
Key Milestones & Achievements
Austin has achieved significant milestones in his entrepreneurial journey by supporting companies that make a positive difference in people’s lives. He has witnessed the significant growth of companies like ZS Pharma and Covetrus, as they expanded their business and brought their products and therapies to market. He also guided some of the top life science companies in the industry.
- ZS Pharma is a company focused on chronic kidney disease. Austin and his team helped the company to grow from three people at a bench to 200 and was successfully acquired by AstraZeneca for $2.7 billion.
- For the past seven years, he has worked with Covetrus, an animal health company. It was created from the merger of Vets First Choice and Henry Schein Animal Health. Austin and his team collaborated with Covetrus on leasing over 2 million square feet of space. This support facilitated the expansion of the company’s compound manufacturing, distribution, and technical operations worldwide.
- Another significant achievement is the 2021 merger of T3 Advisors with Savills North America. T3’s innovative approach to serving clients in the life sciences and technology communities aligned perfectly with Savills’ strategic objectives.
Joining Savills amplified the powerful position within these critically important and growing sectors. The company’s global footprint and extensive advisory services capabilities allowed T3’s team to expand its relationships with existing clients while introducing new clients to the unique benefits of the Savills North America platform.
Transforming Life Science Through Real Estate Solutions
Savills North America has been helping people thrive through places and spaces for over 160 years. With more than 40,000 professionals dedicated to commercial real estate across 70 countries, it has the expertise to bring the vision to life. At Savills, making a positive impact is at the heart of its partnerships. The company dedicates itself to providing valuable advice and directly contributing to various projects. It is committed to honoring its responsibility to protect the environment. It also strives to support local communities and promote an inclusive culture.
The Life Sciences division at Savills North America comprises a group of life sciences industry veterans. They use technology and data to develop customized real estate strategies for the future of science and innovation. Its passion is helping companies deliver life-changing drugs and therapies to patients quicker and cost-effectively through the built environment.
The Innovative Services and Solutions
Savills North America is a company devoted to moving quickly and confidently to capture real estate opportunities that support innovation, power people, and help businesses thrive. For its life science clients, it understands the sector’s complexities. This includes the intense competition for talent and space, the need to balance vision and runway, and the infrastructure required to support science. The differentiator from others in the market is based on its team’s deep, direct experience that anticipates challenges, helps reduce costs, streamlines processes, manages compliance, and mitigates risk.
As an advocate and partner, the company will use an integrated service platform and best-in-class technology. This will enable them to tailor strategies for a company’s unique workforce, workplace, and laboratory planning needs. The team provides immense value by helping companies benchmark peers in another service area. They also analyze workplace utilization, local markets, demographics, and economic incentives. This analysis is used to develop occupancy plans and secure flexible spaces that can adapt as the team grows. It ensures that the lab facility delivers the solution for the business’s ever-evolving technology needs. The clients are assured that their space will fit its critical financial, clinical, and hiring objectives.
A significant challenge for Savills was to retain market share while contending with competitors possessing superior financial resources and larger teams. Despite this, the company was successful in growing its capabilities in core markets such as Boston, San Francisco Bay, San Diego, New Jersey, and Research Triangle Park while tapping into growing geographies in Florida, Seattle, Denver, and Houston.
The Significant Growth
From 2021 to 2022, the life sciences industry saw significant growth based on public and private financing markets. As such, T3’s merger with Savills North America in 2021 was timely and triggered the growth of its life sciences business. Since then, it has tripled its team with new lab planners, consultants, researchers, and brokers supporting the growing sector and its need to rationalize people, science, and operations.
The people and culture of the company are the roots of its success. Savills acquires talent from across the globe with the right expertise and capabilities to work together to support its clients. The team continuously stays ahead of clients’ growing demands and challenges while creating innovative solutions to support them along the way.
Savills North America is constantly monitoring the needs of life science occupiers, as well as market changes with financing and regulatory hurdles. This continuous analysis helps iterate the evolution of its capabilities and services. Since its team helps companies rationalize life sciences growth, this means it will recruit more diverse consultants. These consultants can help the clients do more with less and minimize risk and expense. They also specialize in locating space in optimal locations for cost and efficiency.
Strategies for the Company’s Success
People are the lifeblood of the healthcare industry, and the future of life sciences development relies on its critical workforce. Savills North America’ team helps companies tap into the best and brightest workforce globally to ensure enhanced recruitment and productivity. This means positioning companies in the frontier markets. It also enables its clients to build integrated lab and workplace environments where people can do their best work. This helps them do more with less to enhance their runway and ability for success, given current market challenges.
It also spends significant time with various economic development organizations to think about workforce development and reskilling people. The aim is to increase the availability of talent globally for these growing organizations.
The Impact and Integration of AI
New technologies can dramatically improve efficiency and scientific insights for analytical labs. The rapid integration of automation, AI, robotic systems, virtual reality, informatics, advanced algorithms, and consistent data structures promises to increase lab throughput, reduce errors, and cut costs. AI is transforming the labs of the future by utilizing its ability to analyze large amounts of data to make more accurate predictions. It also tailors treatments to individual patients and allows researchers to monitor experiments remotely. It also improves collaboration and ensures regulatory requirements and safety protocols by flagging risks in real time. Its application will continue to be an asset to the life sciences industry by enhancing productivity, efficiency, and innovation across a wide range of scientific disciplines.
Advice for Entrepreneurs for Success
Austin shares that there are four key factors and responsibilities to succeed as an entrepreneur – understanding, developing, creating, and leading. One should first understand the customer and their needs. Then continue to develop services and smart and creative teams that meet the customer’s challenges. Creating marketing strategies that attract key customers to the services is also fundamental to an entrepreneur’s goals. They must also lead the growth of a business with passion and care for its people and customers.
