Celebrating 30 Years of Innovation

This year, we celebrated our 30th anniversary and looked back at 30 years of innovation as we welcomed MassBio’s founders to our Annual Meeting. As we look to the future, we are working with our members and stakeholders across the ecosystem to ensure that the Massachusetts’ life sciences supercluster continues to thrive and grow for the next 30 years – and beyond!

The Question of Value

Impact 2020, MassBio’s strategic report, called Massachusetts stakeholders across industry, academia, healthcare networks, payers and government to drive the conversation on defining value and reward for innovation in the era of outcomes-focused medicine.

This year, that goal became even more urgent as issues around drug pricing and the costs of healthcare hit mainstream media in Massachusetts and nationwide. MassBio has and will continue to convene stakeholders to discuss alignment on drug cost and pricing topics, through conversations and programming at our Policy Leadership Breakfast, Annual Meeting and Forum series on value.

We also continue to educate policy makers – 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 any evolving healthcare system. It is critical in Massachusetts and beyond that we preserve and foster innovation so patients can receive the cures they so desperately need.

A #PatientDriven Mission

In 2015, the MassBio Board of Directors officially adopted our new mission statement: Advance Massachusetts’ leadership in the life sciences to grow the industry, add value to the healthcare system and improve patient lives.

This new mission statement is meant to bring focus to the people at the heart of the work we all do: the patients. We work to bring that mission to life through programming like the second annual Patient Advocacy Summit, a sold-out event that brought industry leaders and patient advocates together to examine ways in which life sciences companies can more fully incorporate the patient voice into the work they do throughout the drug development cycle.

We also hosted a series of Forums on how to harness the power of social media which included a session on leveraging social platforms for patient advocacy. We then invited our members to share how their work is patient driven through photos and videos on social media and hosted a Twitter Chat on the topic using the hashtag #PatientDriven.

We look forward to continuing this conversation in 2016.

Catalyzing Innovation

MassBio supports innovation at its earliest stages. This year we matched 12 startups with teams of mentors through the MassCONNECT program. It was a banner year for MassCONNECT graduates, who have made deals with biopharma partners, won international business plan competitions and reached product milestones. The program has also grown through official partnerships with a number of accelerators and incubators (including the prestigious OneStart Competition), value-add informational sessions for entrepreneurs like our recent National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke program and entrepreneur bootcamps.

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.

This year we convened thousands of members of the life sciences community at more than 100 events. We continue to rollout unique, targeted events that connect our members with shared interests, including biomanufacturing programming, life sciences information technology and big data programming, our new General Counsel Executive Group, new Nonprofit Leaders Roundtable and our annual CSO Roundtable.

Supporting Local Growth, Global Collaboration

In 2015, MassBio welcomed a number of global companies as they opened new Massachusetts offices, including as Eli Lilly, GSK, and Bristol-Myers Squibb and more. This year we hosted visitors from 17 life sciences clusters around the world, ranging from Iceland, to France, to China.

MassBio also supports our local cities and towns across the Commonwealth as they grow their life sciences clusters and become BioReady® by adopting bio-friendly policies.

We will continue to partner with the new administration and the Massachusetts Life Science Center leadership to advocate for and develop the next iteration of the Life Sciences Initiative.

Boosting Your Bottom Line

In 2015, we expanded the MassBio Purchasing Consortium to include competitive pricing and best-in-class customer service from Industrial Protection Products, UniFirst Corporation and publications such as Science and Banker & Tradesman. Stay tuned for savings from new suppliers in 2016.

This year we also expanded our Employee Rewards program, offering special savings and incentives at 30+ restaurants, retailers and attractions specifically for the employees of our member companies. In 2016 we will build out the program in key regions outside of Boston/Cambridge.

Preparing the Workforce of the Future

As we look toward the future, cultivating talent in Massachusetts will remain a priority. This year, Peter Abair, formerly MassBio’s Director of Economic Development & Global Affairs, became the new Executive Director of the MassBioEd Foundation. MassBio will continue to work closely with Peter and the MassBioEd Foundation to inspire students, engage teachers and guide the life sciences workforce of the future.

This year, MassBioEd began creating a job trends and forecasting tool, which will build upon MassBioEd’s educational programming by providing a clear understanding of what jobs are trending strongly, the skills that are associated with those positions and which job opportunities will be available in the future.

To enhance the careers of those already in the industry, MassBio organizes regular professional development and networking events. MassBio members can also access discounts on MassBioEd training courses.

Thank you for making our 30^th year a great one. 2016 promises to be even busier and more productive.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year,
Bob Coughlin