The following are excerpts from a Boston Business Journal article published on August 26, 2025:
MassBio CEO Kendalle Burlin O’Connell called this the first time she’s seen a drop in these workforce numbers as far back as she can remember.
“It was certainly disheartening, but it wasn’t surprising,” Burlin O’Connell said. “Given everything that we’ve seen with tight capital, with political uncertainty, it has been sort of a perfect storm for a stalled market. Although Massachusetts is usually the last to feel those types of impacts, we’re not immune to that.”
Despite an overall drop in venture capital nationwide, a lot of the funding that is being invested is coming to Massachusetts companies. In the first half of 2025, about 22.5% of venture capital went to Massachusetts companies, second only to companies in the much-larger state of California, at 45%. No other state’s share of VC investment reached 4%.
Massachusetts is also still seeing drug pipeline growth. Between July 2024 and July 2025, the Bay State outpaced the country in pipeline growth 6.7% to 3.4%.
Burlin O’Connell also called out pharma companies that continue to invest in their Massachusetts presence, including new facilities recently developed or in the works for Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Biogen and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
“Massachusetts is very well positioned to capitalize on this rebound, not if, but when it happens,” Burlin O’Connell said.