MassBio CEO & President Kendalle Burlin O’Connell originally shared this update on LinkedIn:
I’ve been to plenty of ribbon cuttings in this job, but rarely three in one week, and rarely three that tell such different stories about why companies choose Massachusetts.
Zealand Pharma came from Copenhagen. Their new research hub in Alewife is now the company’s primary U.S. address, built to take their metabolic science into new modalities, with a team expected to grow past 100. Their leadership was clear about why they’re here: to work alongside the talent in this ecosystem.
AstraZeneca has been part of our community for more than 75 years. This week they opened their new R&D center in Kendall Square, a $1 billion-plus investment that will grow their Massachusetts workforce by more than half in the coming years.
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Pennsylvania and already has the first approved treatment for MASH on the market. Today they opened their doors in Waltham, where they’re adding 50 jobs. When a commercial-stage company decides its next phase of growth runs through Massachusetts, that tells you something about what this place offers well beyond the bench.
Each of these is a hiring commitment, and together they add to a run of momentum this industry has worked hard to build. They also stretch from Kendall to Alewife to Waltham, a reminder that our cluster is a lot bigger than one square mile.
Plenty of places want what Massachusetts has. These three companies are betting on it for the long haul. Our job, as an industry and as a Commonwealth, is to keep earning that, because the people with the most riding on these bets are patients waiting for what comes next.
Congratulations to the teams at Zealand, AstraZeneca, and Madrigal.
Fall 2026 Ribbon Cuttings
