Biotechnology industry in Boston

Greater Boston, primarily Boston and Cambridge, is home to more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, ranging from small start-ups to billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies. The many universities in the area give the region a large network of scientists.^[1]

Kendall Square area, viewed from across the Charles River

The Harvard Medical School quadrangle and adjacent Longwood Medical and Academic Area in Boston, Massachusetts

The Kendall Square area of Cambridge holds a large concentration of the life science industry, numbering over 120 companies within a mile,^[2][3] and has been described as the "center of the nation’s biotechnology industry".^[4] The Longwood area of Boston, about two miles from Kendall Square, is also home to many biomedical research companies.^[5]

History

The biotechnology industry in Boston dates back to the 1970s, when genetic engineering was developing. Biogen was the first company in Boston to focus on biotechnology.^[6][7]

In 2008, the governor of Massachusetts announced the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, promising $1 billion to further the development of the biotech industry.^[8][9] Massachusetts is among the top states for biotech jobs.^[10]

In 2016, venture investment in Massachusetts biopharma companies was $2.9 billion, and more than half of the biotech companies in the state receiving venture capital were located in Cambridge. When Cambridge and Boston were considered together, they received more than 80% of the funding in the state.^[11] Seven teaching hospitals are located in Boston, contributing to the research efforts. Five of the top six NIH-funded independent hospitals in the United States are located in Boston.^[12] In September 2023, JLL released a report that found that real estate demand for biotechnology laboratory space nationally and in the Greater Boston area and San Francisco Bay Area specifically were slowing during 2021–2023 inflation surge due to declining venture capital financing for life science startup companies and rising interest rates following a building boom that began prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[13] In May 2022, a conference attended by Massachusetts U.S. Senator Ed Markey, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, U.S. Representative Richard Neal from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district, and University of Massachusetts System President Marty Meehan was held at the UMass Club to launch a bid to have the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services locate the headquarters of the recently created Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) in the Greater Boston area.^[14] In September 2023, ARPA-H announced that one of its three headquarters would be located in Cambridge.^[15]

Local industry

 

The Broad Institute is located in the life sciences hub of Kendall Square

Academic institutes

• Broad Institute
• Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
• Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
• Mass General Research Institute

Biotechnology companies

• Abcam
• Addgene
• Biogen
• Boston Scientific
• Conagen
• Foundation Medicine
• Genzyme
• ImmunoGen
• Intarcia Therapeutics
• Moderna Therapeutics
• NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals
• pSivida
• Sage Therapeutics
• Thrombolytic Science International
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Vaxess Technologies

Pharmaceutical companies

• Eli Lilly & Co.
• Merck & Co.
• Acceleron Pharma
• Akebia Therapeutics
• Aderis Pharmaceuticals
• Agios Pharmaceuticals
• Alkermes
• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
• Amgen
• Alzheon
• Deciphera Pharmaceuticals
• Editas Medicine
• Intellia Therapeutics
• Ipsen
• Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
• Merrimack Pharmaceuticals
• Novartis
• Pfizer
• Sanofi
• Sarepta Therapeutics
• Takeda Pharmaceuticals
• Ultragenyx
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Other related companies

• Atlas Venture
• Cytel
• Fast Track Initiative
• IDDI
• LabCentral
• Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio)

See also

• List of biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the New York metropolitan area
• Bayside Expo Center#Bay City development
• Morrissey Boulevard#Biotechnology industry

References

1. Ramsey, Lydia (May 13, 2017). "Insiders reveal how Boston moved to the forefront of the global fight against deadly diseases". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
2. Garde, Damian (5 May 2016). "Get to know Kendall Square, biotech's booming epicenter". STAT.
3. Ledford, Heidi (11 June 2015). "Start-ups fight for a place in Boston's biotech hub". Nature. 522 (7555): 138–139. Bibcode:2015Natur.522..138L. doi:10.1038/522138a. PMID 26062489.
4. Logan, Tim. "Developers are scrambling for the next Kendall Square. Where will it be?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
5. "Spotlight on Boston/Cambridge". Nature. 13 June 2012. doi:10.1038/nj0376. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
6. "Clusterluck". The Economist. January 16, 2016.
7. Khalid, Asma (June 19, 2017). "How Boston Became 'The Best Place In The World' To Launch A Biotech Company". WBUR (BostonomiX).
8. "Life Sciences Initiative". www.mass.gov.
9. "Gov. Patrick and the Mass. Life Sciences Center Announce Over $100 Million in Capital Grant Funding for Projects in Western Mass". Office of News & Media Relations | UMass Amherst.
10. Saltzman, Jonathan (January 6, 2019). "For biotech, 2019's not a sky's-the-limit year - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
11. "Mass Bio Industry Snapshot 2017" (PDF). Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. 2017.
12. "Mass Bio Industry Snapshot 2016" (PDF). Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. 2016.
13. Weisman, Robert (September 19, 2023). "Demand for life sciences lab space has slowed in Boston area and nationally, report says". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
14. Chesto, Jon (May 16, 2022). "The feds are choosing a headquarters for a federal health research center. Why not pick Boston?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
15. Weisman, Robert; Chesto, Jon (September 26, 2023). "Cambridge picked as a national hub for new federal health research agency". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 26, 2023.