Mass. biotech industry shrinks amid headwinds, Trump cuts
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Massachusetts biotech companies are tightening their belts as economic uncertainty mounts, pulling in less funding, laying off workers and delaying acquisitions, per a new industry report.
Why it matters: The state is one of the world's top producers of drugs treating rare diseases and other conditions, outpacing Chinese competitors.
- The mix of tariffs, federal funding cuts and other barriers may shrink the region's lead.
Driving the news: Massachusetts lost workers in biomanufacturing and research and development in 2024, though the state's overall biopharma workforce grew 0.1% last year, per the annual snapshot from the industry's trade association, MassBio.
- That doesn't include the hundreds of layoffs so far this year, all amid declines in venture funding, acquisitions and federal research funding.
What they're saying: "While this report shows Massachusetts' biopharma workforce holding firm, the reality is that we lost R&D and manufacturing jobs, and we almost certainly have lost even more since January," MassBio president Kendalle Burlin O'Connell wrote in the report.
Context: Industry leaders didn't expect the severity of the economic uncertainty that would come in 2025.
- Some factors have surfaced recently: tariff hikes, funding cuts or the overhaul to the Food and Drug Administration under President Trump.
By the numbers: MassBio estimates the state will lose out on more than $463 million in 2025 compared to a year earlier if funding cuts continue at the current pace.
- That would bring its total NIH funding for 2025 to just below $3 billion, the lowest amount since 2019.
Zoom in: Acquisitions slowed to a crawl in this year's second quarter, with a 74% drop in Massachusetts companies being acquired compared to Q2 in 2024.
- Acquisitions led by Massachusetts companies dropped even further in the second quarter, compared to this time a year earlier.
Yes, but: Six Massachusetts companies were acquired for a disclosed total of $11 billion in July, per the report.
- Another eight companies were acquired for an undisclosed total.
The bottom line: O'Connell tried to stay optimistic in her message to the industry.
- She hailed Massachusetts' often-repeated reputation for "biomedical miracles and sports comebacks."
- "I have full faith that when the dust settles, it is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that will lead the way back. We've done it before. We're trying like hell to do it again."