Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative brings together life sciences leaders in academia, industry, and government to create a cross-sector collaboration to advance the growth and vitality of the life sciences super cluster in Massachusetts. The life sciences super cluster includes the Commonwealth’s world-class universities, teaching hospitals and research institutions, as well as biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical companies and the many software, venture capital, plastics, and IT companies who contribute to the expansion of the cluster.

As the life sciences super cluster continues to develop life-saving technologies and world-renown scientific research, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative is working to ensure Massachusetts maintains a comprehensive and innovative strategy that will strengthen the state’s leadership and collaboration in the life sciences sector.

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2010 Update

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative (LSC) held the fourth meeting of its Leadership Council at the UMass Club on May 12, 2010. Jack Wilson, President of UMass chaired the meeting with co-chairs, Drew Faust, President of Harvard and Susan Hockfield, President of MIT. Over 20 members of the Leadership Council were also in attendance.

During a robust discussion, the co-chairs presented updates on the Collaborative’s advocacy to support NIH funding for the life sciences. The co-chairs recently wrote a letter to the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation, supporting a United for Medical Research report, which calls for stable life sciences funding from the federal government. In addition, the Leadership Council discussed findings from the LSC Innovation and Venture Formation impact effort, as well as a new proposal to pursue the development of a life sciences talent exchange. Finally, progress on the Biomanufacturing Roundtable effort was discussed, including a $50K award from the Life Sciences Center for the initiative and the development of business attraction collateral material regarding biomanufacturing in Massachusetts used at the May BIO Convention.

February 2010 UPDATE

 

January 8th Leadership Council Meeting Met with Enthusiasm

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative (LSC) convened the third meeting of its Leadership Council at the Boston Athenaeum on January 8, 2010. Henri Termeer, President & CEO of Genzyme chaired the meeting with co-chairs, Drew Faust of Harvard, Susan Hockfield of MIT, and Jack Wilson of UMass in attendance, and over twe nty of the Council members participating. The Athenaeum, also the site of the first Organizing Committee meeting of the Collaborative in 2006, was again a venue for a robust discussion of a variety of issues relating to the activities and funding of the Collaborative, a continuation grant from the Boston Foundation based on LSC achievements, a progress report on the new Biomanufacturing Roundtable, and a detailed presentation of the findings and recommendations from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation and Venture Formation (IVF) report conducted on behalf of the Collaborative by the MIT Entrepreneurship Center and PricewaterhouseCoopers (discussed below). Mr. Termeer emphasized the “importance of the Life Sciences Collaborative in impacting policy and elevating critical opportunities and actions to optimize the environment for life sciences within this region.”

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Henri Termeer (second from right), President & CEO of Genzyme chaired the meeting with co-chairs (left to right), Jack Wilson of UMass, Susan Hockfield of MIT,
and Drew Faust of Harvard.

Fiona Murray, co-director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, presented the findings of the IVF initiative and Henri Termeer led a spirited discussion of some of the issues raised and opportunities afforded by the report’s proposed recommendations. Dr. Murray stressed that “we need to channel the non-VC funding in a better way, and improve efficiencies in the system.” Council members provided insight and guidance on some of the areas for action, specifically the importance of post-ARRA NIH funding, the need to support and expand existing state programs administered by the Life Sciences Center, and the opportunity to create efficiencies in the venture formation funding process.

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Leadership Council at the Boston Athenaeum on January 8, 2010

The co-chairs of the newly formed Massachusetts Biomanufacturing Roundtable Abbie Celniker, CEO of Taligen, Bob Steininger, SVP of Manufacturing at Acceleron Pharma and Mickey Koplove, VP of Bioprocess Strategy at Pfizer described the launch of the Roundtable in December and summarized the tentative action agenda endorsed by the group at its initial meeting. Some of the highlights of the presentation included a statement of the Roundtable’s mission to develop, implement, and support actions that promote biomanufacturing in the region by engaging a broad spectrum of biomanufacturing stakeholders; and, identifying gaps in the marketplace for discreet types of biomanufacturing that might create a competitive advantage for the Commonwealth. Some specific areas of focus include advancing local technological innovations in the field to benefit the cluster, developing talent and skills, and addressing public policy issues such as infrastructure and taxes. This initiative has been and will continue to be grounded in solid research and a global perspective of the industry. “The Biomanufacturing Roundtable is a unique opportunity for the Commonwealth to address critical biomanufacturing opportunities in this important biotech cluster,” stated Abbie Celniker

Boston Foundation Celebrates Progress of Life Sciences Collaborative and Announces Three More Years of Funding

Paul Grogan, President & CEO of the Boston Foundation, announced that the Foundation Board had approved an unprecedented three year extension of funding to the Life Sciences Collaborative at its meeting in December. This grant will extend the overall support of the Foundation to a total of six years. Traditionally, the Boston Foundation only supports efforts for two to three years, but Mr. Grogan explained that the Collaborative has been a model for advancing cross-sector collaborations and joint initiatives among its diverse academic and industrial stakeholders. Mr. Grogan explained that “the current economic climate had placed Foundation resources under enormous pressure, so the decision to invest further in the Collaborative is a strong validation of what it has done and the future possibilities of what it can achieve.”

The additional grant will provide the Collaborative with $100K in year one, $75K in year two, and decrease to $50K in year three. The Foundation’s continued support will complement the Collaborative’s independent funding effort to achieve financial sustainability. Over half of the Collaborative’s Leadership Council members have provided support joining the founding sponsors Harvard, MIT, UMass, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the Boston Foundation.

Some Surprises Mark Interim Findings of Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation and Venture Formation Impact Initiative

In response to the 2009 economic recession and its anticipated impact on the Massachusetts life sciences cluster, the Collaborative, in partnership with the MIT Entrepreneurship Center and PricewaterhouseCoopers, undertook a formal analysis and action report on the implications of the economic downturn and the potential effects of proposed national legislative and regulatory initiatives on life sciences innovation and venture formation. PwC provided its MoneyTree data on venture investments and the MIT Entrepreneurship Center conducted analyses and upwards of 75 stakeholder interviews to assess the impact of the economy and public policy actions on Massachusetts companies of all sizes.

Interim findings and recommendations were presented to the Leadership Council at its January 8 meeting, and the data and interviews confirmed a significant decline in life sciences funding from late-stage public markets and M&A to VC and angel investments. Additionally, the report underscored a decided shift in investments from new companies to existing portfolio companies as well as from biologics to medical tools/device firms. Overall, company formation slowed. This in turn led to a decided decline in commercialization opportunities and the potential for competitor states and regions to build low-risk opportunities in devices, tools and diagnostics by aggressively funding early-stage companies and investing in research and manufacturing infrastructure.

Six preliminary recommendations were presented for discussion and will be further researched and refined over the next 60 days:

The full version of the Interim Report presentation is available by contacting Greta Tinay at tinay@masstech.org. The final report will be released in the spring timeframe.

New Biomanufacturing Roundtable Launched at Acceleron Pharma

The Collaborative’s Biomanufacturing Initiative described in a prior communication has culminated in the official launch of the Commonwealth’s first Biomanufacturing Roundtable. Over 20 of the state’s senior biomanufacturing executives gathered at Acceleron Pharma in Cambridge on December 14 to kick off this new biomanufacturing collaboration, whose mission is to develop a long-term strategy to expand biomanufacturing activity in Massachusetts. The Roundtable is led by co-chairs Abbie Celniker of Taligen Therapeutics, Mickey Koplove of Pfizer and Bob Steininger of Acceleron Pharma. The first meeting was marked by a free and open dialogue about the challenges and opportunities for the region’s biomanufacturing enterprise, resulting in consensus around an initial action agenda to include the following areas of interest: human talent development, innovation, public policy initiatives and economic development, and cluster growth. It was agreed to work together to refine the preliminary agenda over the coming months, set issue priorities, and form working groups to develop positions and action steps on priority issues.

The Roundtable has already been actively engaged in advising the UMass Dartmouth Bioprocessing Facility on their design plans – leading to new and innovative ways to cut costs while providing flexibility for future technologies. It will also complement the research conducted by the MIT Industrial Performance Center on mammalian biomanufacturing opportunities in Massachusetts (60-70% of the market) by funding microbial biomanufacturing research (30-40% of the market). Research from both mammalian and microbial production will enable the Roundtable to more fully evaluate the potential for biotechnology in the region. It will reveal the strengths of the region, possible future directions for the industry, and result in more robust recommendations for action.

Collaborative Advises Life Sciences Center on
Launch of Summer Internship Challenge Program

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has designated the Human Capital Task Force of the Collaborative, co-chaired by Gary Gottlieb of Partners HealthCare and Zoltan Csimma of Genzyme, as its principal adviser on development and implementation of its Human Talent programs. The Center recently announced the launch of the second year of its successful Internship Challenge Program. The Collaborative played a critical role in providing the Center guidance in shaping this program, particularly on issues such as the length of the program, eligibility, and set-asides for Community College applicants. This year’s program includes a number of improvements: an expansion of eligibility to graduate students, an extension of the internship period of 12 weeks (from 8 weeks last year), eligibility for small companies (<100 employees) which, in most cases, would not be in a position to provide internship opportunities without state support, and a 10% set aside of program resources for community college students. More information about the program can be found on the Center’s website.

Upcoming LSC Events

 

 

Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative Urges Congress to Include New Research Funding in Federal Stimulus Package - January 9, 2009

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative has called for the proposed federal stimulus package to include increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other scientific research agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

In a letter to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation from Harvard President Drew Faust, MIT President Susan Hockfield, Genzyme Chairman and CEO Henri Termeer, and UMass President Jack Wilson, the co-chairs of the MLSC leadership council underscored their confidence that increased funding of NIH will stimulate economic activity and job growth throughout the country in the short term, and also advance critical longer term economic interests of the United States by stabilizing our position in the worldwide competition to attract and support the best and brightest minds to biomedical research.

Read the letter>>

Read the press release about the need for new NIH funding>>

Read related Boston Globe story>>

Read related Mass High Tech story>>

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

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