Originally aired on WBUR on August 30, 2022.
The Massachusetts biotechnology industry appears to be thriving, despite a national stock slump and the ongoing COVID pandemic.
A report from the industry group MassBio found more than 106,000 people worked at drug companies and life science research institutions in 2021 — 13% more than the previous year. The industry continued to add jobs in research, development and manufacturing, even as some companies have laid off workers.
MassBio chief executive Joe Boncore said the biotech cluster — buoyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in state investment — is now mature enough to withstand ups and downs.
“The investment government has made, that industry has made here over the past 15 years has put Massachusetts in a position where we’re really able to weather the storm better than most ecosystems,” he said.
The biggest biotech and pharmaceutical employers in the state include Takeda, Sanofi, Pfizer, Novartis, Vertex, Biogen and Moderna.