King Street Properties’ Pathways campus at Devens/Photo by Damianos Photography | Courtesy of King Street Properties
Massachusetts’ life science industry added R&D jobs but lost traction in biomanufacturing, a hoped-for source of new jobs and economic growth outside of the Greater Boston cluster.
Trade group MassBio reported that the Bay State had 66,554 jobs on the R&D side of the industry in 2023, up 3.7 percent from the previous year. But biomanufacturing employment declined 2.2 statewide to 10,493 jobs.
The lack of momentum underscores the need for state legislators to take action on Gov. Maura Healey’s request to reauthorize the state’s life science industry initiative, offering $1 billion in public subsidies to the industry over a 10-year period, a MassBio executive said.
“If we want to be a leader in biomanufacturing, we need the state’s support,” said Ben Bradford, MassBio’s head of external affairs. “It’s obvious we’re never going to be able to compete with some regions that are cheaper on the cost curve.”
Biomanufacturing’s growth has been a goal of industry and economic development leaders seeking to spread the life science sector’s benefits to Gateway Cities and regions outside of Greater Boston.
According to MassBio’s 2024 industry snapshot released this week, Worcester County was the only region to expand its biomanufacturing workforce, rising nearly 12 percent to 2,648 jobs.
The region includes recent projects at the Devens business park, such as the new Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand facility at King Street Properties’ Pathways campus. In June, the FDA approved commercial production at Bristol Myers Squibb’s 244,000-square-foot cell therapy manufacturing facility at Devens.
But other potential developments such a 520,000-square-foot biomanufacturing and life science building at the Suffolk Downs redevelopment in Revere have been delayed by the slow leasing climate. In June, contract manufacturer WuXi Biologics paused construction of a 189,500-square-foot drug production faciity in Worcester
California and New Jersey lead the nation in biomanufacturing employment of 43,641 and 30,022 jobs, according to the report. Massachusetts ranked 10th with 10.264 jobs.
Life science’s Massachusetts real estate footprint – including lab and manufacturing space – now exceeds 62 million square feet following a historic development boom. Vacancies topped 20 percent at midyear, a historic high, after major leasing activity slowed starting in 2022 as venture capital investment declined.
Massachusetts companies landed $3.3 billion in 95 venture capital deals during the first half of 2024. Four communities – Boston, Cambridge, Waltham and Watertown – accounted for 85 percent of the total investment dollars. Companies headquartered in Massachusetts received 21 percent of the U.S. total, down from 32 percent the previous year.
Bay State firms received $3.5 billion in National Institutes of Health funding in 2023, trailing only California’s $5.3 billion and New York’s $3.6 billion.
Jobs in life science represented nearly 17 percent of Massachusetts’ total employment growth in 2023.
“The big picture is in a year that is perceived as a slowdown, the industry still grew in Massachusetts, and that’s a positive sign for when things do turn around and the industry tends to grow even more,” Bradford said.
