MassBio welcomed 180 new members in 2016! We are committed to delivering maximum value to our 975+ member organizations by providing best-in-class programming, events, services and opportunities. Our goal is to support the needs of our members by helping extend capital, providing valuable business development opportunities and offering relevant, forward-thinking content.
Time to Change: Cultivating the Next Generation of Leaders
This year, we welcomed our new Chair for the MassBio Board of Directors, Abbie Celniker, who announced our new Gender Diversity Initiative. The Gender Diversity Initiative is a multi-faceted effort to meaningfully impact gender diversity within the industry in three areas: Growing women’s participation on corporate boards, expanding the number of women in the C-Suite and building the pipeline of diverse candidates throughout the industry. As part of this initiative, MassBio hosted our first-ever gender diversity summit, Finding Our Next Generation Leaders: Championing a Diverse Leadership Pipeline. We are committed to expanding this important initiative in 2017.
As we look toward the future, cultivating talent in Massachusetts will remain a priority. This year, the MassBioEd Foundation launched its new Job Trends Initiative. Based on this research, MassBio and MassBioEd co-hosted the first-ever Massachusetts Conference on Biotechnology Job Trends. This event convened leaders from industry and academia to discuss which jobs are trending strongly, the skills associated with those positions and which job opportunities will be available in the future. We were also proud to join MassBioEd at their first Champions Reception, which was established to recognize and honor the individuals and organizations whose efforts have advanced biotechnology education in Massachusetts.
MassBio also works to enhance our life sciences cluster through sustainable growth. We continue to support global partners interested in joining our cluster—this year we welcomed 26 groups from 18 countries around the world to the MassBio office so we could share more about the Massachusetts life sciences industry. Locally, MassBio supports cities and towns across the Commonwealth as they grow their life sciences clusters and become BioReady® by adopting bio-friendly policies. This year we awarded Ashland, Clinton, Malden, Needham and Saugus new or upgraded ratings.
The Value of #PATIENTDRIVEN® Innovation
MassBio is committed to convening stakeholders across industry, academia, healthcare networks, payers and government to drive the conversation on defining value, developing innovative pricing models, and ensuring reward for innovation in this era of outcomes-focused medicine.
This year, we advocated for the 21st Century Cures Act, a carefully crafted bipartisan effort to accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of life-saving and life-improving therapies. We also continued to educate policymakers – through convening the Biotech Caucus, participating with the Health Policy Commission and serving on the Managed Care Organization Task Force – to ensure the work our member companies are doing is incentivized and rewarded in our evolving healthcare system.
In 2016, MassBio continued to focus on the people at the heart of the work we all do: the patients. We hosted our third annual Patient Advocacy Summit, a sold-out event that convened industry leaders, patients and patient advocates. We also hosted Patient Advocacy roundtables and sessions throughout the year on the role of caregivers, the importance of humanitarian programs and the promise of digital healthcare, including how new technologies can engage patients throughout the drug development process.
MassBio will continue to work with stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to preserve and foster innovation and ensure access to healthcare so patients can receive the treatments and cures they so desperately need.
Convening Across the Life Sciences
This year we convened thousands of members of the life sciences community at more than 100 events. As we look to 2017, we are pleased to build a programming platform focused on diagnostics, devices and digital health. This will include a new track of sessions at our Annual Meeting, a new Medical Device Forum Working Group and our first Signature Event that brings together the biotechnology and medical device communities, focusing on combination products. More than 25% of MassBio member companies work at the intersection of drugs, diagnostics and devices, so we look forward to enhancing MassBio’s offerings in this important area.
We also continue to roll out unique, targeted events to provide professional development opportunities and connect our members with shared interests in topics such as biomanufacturing, the microbiome, biosimilars, digital healthcare and solutions for prescription drug abuse. We also convened roundtables for Chief Scientific Officers and our General Counsel Executive Group. We plan to launch a Chief Financial Officer Roundtable in 2017.
Catalyzing Innovation
MassBio supports innovation at its earliest stages. This year we matched 13 local startups with teams of mentors through the MassCONNECT program. We also welcomed two startups to the program through the new Kentucky – Massachusetts Turnpike, a partnership between the Kentucky Life Sciences Council and MassBio designed to foster collaboration between the two clusters and accelerate research to benefit patients and the healthcare system.
MassCONNECT graduates continue to make deals with biopharma partners, win international business plan competitions and reach product milestones. The program has also grown through official partnerships with accelerators and incubators (including the prestigious OneStart Competition and TiE ScaleUp), access to clinicians and researchers through a new Brigham Research Institute partnership, value-add informational sessions for entrepreneurs and entrepreneur boot camps.
MassBio was also proud to join CARB-X, a new international partnership funding research to tackle the threat posed by untreatable bacterial infections. MassBio will help identify promising startups working in the antimicrobial resistance field and provide business support and mentoring services to CARB-X companies as an extension MassCONNECT.
Through Pharma Days, our customized, invitation-only partnering events, we ensure pharma companies meet the right biotech and startup partners. We are constantly seeking partnerships and relationships to help early-stage life sciences companies meet their next milestones.
Boosting Your Visibility & Your Bottom Line
In 2016, MassBio launched a newly designed MassBio.org website, where MassBio members can share their news, white papers, and events. We also launched a new and improved Career Center where MassBio members can post their job openings for free and can search a resume database to find high-quality candidates.
More than 70% of MassBio members actively use MassBio’s Purchasing Consortium. This year members spent $85 million and saved $41 million. In 2016, we expanded the MassBio Purchasing Consortium to include competitive pricing and best-in-class customer service from TTE Laboratories pipette calibration, AFR Furniture Rental and Micros Northeast technology hardware and services and now include Timmerman Report in our publications offering. We also expanded our Employee Rewards program, which now offers special savings and incentives at 80+ restaurants, retailers and attractions throughout Massachusetts specifically for the employees of our member companies. Stay tuned for new savings from these programs in 2017.
Thank you for making 2016 such a great year. 2017 promises to be even busier and more productive. We hope to see you!