---
title: "Biotech Companies in California: 1,279 Listed (2026)"
description: "Ken's database lists 1,279 biotech companies headquartered in California (Oct 17, 2026). See the size breakdown, the largest firms and the filter."
path: /data/biotech-companies-in-california
family: data
updated: 2026-10-17
data_as_of: 2026-10-17
html: /data/biotech-companies-in-california
sources:
  - "https://app.ken.so"
  - "/pricing"
facts:
  company_count: "1,279"
  state: "California"
  industry_filter: "\"Biotechnology Research\""
  largest_size_band: "1-10 employees (68%)"
  data_as_of: "Oct 17, 2026"
  source: "Ken Search, POST /v1/search/companies"
---

# Biotech Companies in California

Ken's database lists 1,279 biotech companies headquartered in California as of Oct 17, 2026. The largest group, 68%, has 1-10 employees.

## Ken Search Results

### Ken Search

Query: Industry: "Biotechnology Research"; HQ state: California; HQ country: United States; Employees on record: 1 or more

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Companies | 1,279 |
| 1-10 employees | 869 (68%) |
| 11-50 employees | 313 (24%) |
| 51-200 employees | 71 (6%) |

Ken's database, Oct 17, 2026. Headquarters counts, refreshed weekly.

Action: [Search these companies free in Ken](/waitlist) (cost: Free to search, 1 credit ($0.02) per valid email)

## How Many Biotech Companies Are in California?

**In short:** 1,279 biotech companies in Ken's database have their headquarters in California (Oct 17, 2026).

Ken's database lists 1,279 biotech companies with headquarters in California. The largest group, 68%, has 1-10 employees. A company with only a branch office in California is not counted.

**Biotech Companies in California by employee range, Oct 17, 2026**

| Employees | Companies | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-10 | 869 | 68% |
| 11-50 | 313 | 24% |
| 51-200 | 71 | 6% |
| 201-500 | 13 | 1% |
| 501-1,000 | 5 | <1% |
| 1,001-5,000 | 4 | <1% |
| Not listed | 4 | <1% |
| Total | 1,279 | 100% |

Employee range as listed on each company profile, for the companies in the count. Not listed means the profile shows no size.

## Largest Biotech Companies in California

**In short:** By employee count in Ken's database, the largest is Amgen in Thousand Oaks with 10,001+ employees.

**Largest biotech companies headquartered in California by employee count, Oct 17, 2026**

| Company | City | Employees |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Amgen | Thousand Oaks | 10,001+ |
| Genentech | South San Francisco | 10,001+ |
| Agilent Technologies | Santa Clara | 10,001+ |
| Gilead Sciences | Foster City | 10,001+ |
| Illumina | San Diego | 5,001-10,000 |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories | Hercules | 5,001-10,000 |
| Cepheid | Sunnyvale | 1,001-5,000 |
| Guardant Health | Palo Alto | 1,001-5,000 |
| Kite Pharma | Santa Monica | 1,001-5,000 |
| BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. | San Rafael | 1,001-5,000 |

Company-level data from Ken's database, ranked by employee count. This table reads each company's state from its address, so it can include large companies the count above misses because their record stores the state with a ZIP code. Public bodies, schools, job boards and companies with 50 employees or fewer are left out.

## How We Counted

**In short:** We counted biotech companies in Ken's database with headquarters in California on Oct 17, 2026.

- Filter: Companies in Biotechnology Research, with headquarters in California, United States, and at least one employee on record.
- Headquarters only. Companies with just an office in California are not counted.
- These are companies in Ken's database (250M people and 24M companies), not every company that exists.
- Some records store the state with a ZIP code, and the state filter misses those, so read the count as a floor. The largest-companies table reads the state from each record's address, so it includes them.
- Counts as of Oct 17, 2026. We check them weekly, and the dates move only when a count or a listed company changes.
- Pages publish only at 50 companies or more. Ken is our product, and these counts come from its company database.

The request body for POST /v1/search/companies

```json
{"industries":["Biotechnology Research"],"countries":["US"],"states":["California"],"employeesCount":{"min":1},"pageSize":0}
```

## FAQ

### How many biotech companies are in California?

Ken's database lists 1,279 biotech companies headquartered in California as of Oct 17, 2026.

### Which biotech companies in California have the most employees?

In Ken's database, Amgen, Genentech and Agilent Technologies have the most employees of the biotech companies headquartered in California.

### Can I get a list of biotech companies in California?

Yes. Run the filter on this page in Ken Search. Searching is free, and a valid email costs 1 credit ($0.02).

### How often is this count updated?

We check it weekly. The dates on this page move only when a count or a listed company changes, so an older date means nothing moved since.

### Why does this count differ from other sources?

Sources count differently: headquarters or any office, industry labels or government codes, and how many companies they track. This page counts headquarters in Ken's database with the filter shown above.

## Do this in Ken

### Search these companies in Ken

Open Ken Search with the same filter to see all 1,279 companies, narrow them by size or city, and find a valid email for the people you want to reach.

1. Set these filters: Industry: "Biotechnology Research"; HQ state: California; HQ country: United States; Employees on record: 1 or more.
2. Narrow by employee range or city.
3. Find valid emails and add the companies to a campaign.

- Link: [Search these companies in Ken](/waitlist)
- API: `POST /v1/search/companies`
- MCP tool: `search_search_companies`
- Cost: Free to search, 1 credit ($0.02) per valid email

## Related

- [B2B company counts by industry and state](/data)
- [Find Biotech & Pharma Decision-Makers](/use-cases/biotech-pharma)
- [Biotech Companies in New York](/data/biotech-companies-in-new-york)
- [Biotech Companies in New Jersey](/data/biotech-companies-in-new-jersey)
- [Construction Companies in California](/data/construction-companies-in-california)
- [Trucking Companies in California](/data/trucking-companies-in-california)
- [Manufacturing Companies in California](/data/manufacturing-companies-in-california)
- [Oil and Gas Companies in California](/data/oil-and-gas-companies-in-california)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ken's company database, queried through Ken Search (POST /v1/search/companies) | https://app.ken.so | 2026-10-17 |
| Ken pricing (credit cost per valid email) | /pricing | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published with counts from Ken's database.