Three weeks ago, we shared our perspective on the national trends and policies creating swirl in the biopharma industry. Three days ago, the Boston Globe published a detailed article illustrating a concerning outlook on the current state of Massachusetts’ biopharma industry, including an oversupply of unleased lab space, declining company valuations and funding challenges, and ongoing layoffs that are impacting workforce stability and long-term growth. And yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed an additional 10,000 job cuts on top of the 10,000 already cut this year.
So it was against this fairly bleak backdrop that Asymmetry’s Gregory Lief, Yakir Siegal, and Vivian Chen attended the MassBio 2025 State of Possible Conference this week with other biopharma leaders from across the state. And the atmosphere was anything but bleak!
While the industry is undoubtedly navigating choppy waters, the discussions at the conference offered a counterbalance to the broader rhetoric – one focused on the power and connectivity of the Massachusetts biopharma community, the resilience of the biopharma industry overall, and the constant need to keep patients front and center in everything we do.
Here are 4 key takeaways from State of Possible that left us energized and optimistic:
- The challenges and swirl are real: Conference speakers and networking conversations all acknowledged that challenges coming out of DC are real and impactful. Yesterday’s HHS cuts make even more real the potential for slower product review cycles including pre-NDA/BLA meetings. Governor Maura Healey exemplified her Boston grit in noting that we need to acknowledge these headwinds but not let them stop up – we just need to get on with our work.
- Massachusetts is the place: “The density and intensity of innovation in Boston” creates a powerful ecosystem better able to withstand challenges than many other biotech clusters. Bruce Booth echoed this sentiment as he noted why he has remained rooted in the Boston area and why he feels this is the place to weather the current storm. In fact, current conditions may create even more opportunities to bring innovation in from other areas, whether domestically from smaller clusters, or internationally from countries where early-stage funding lags behind scientific innovation.
- Challenges create opportunities: Challenging times always create new opportunities. For instance, while the greater Boston area is disproportionately impact by the NIH funding cuts, George Church noted his lab increasingly utilizes SRAs – perhaps serving as a model for increased academic / industry collaboration as a solve for keeping innovation thriving despite NIH cuts.
- Patients remain our north star: We’re in this industry to create and deliver innovations that improve human health. MassBio CEO Kendall Burlin O’Connell said it best – “Success is measured one patient at a time.” The powerful stories of Pete Frates and how his experience with ALS created a powerful marketing, advocacy and fundraising engine, or of how “Swaggy” Lane and his family manage their daily burden of dealing with a rare form of epilepsy causing a few hundred daily micro-seizures, reminded the hundreds of biopharma leaders why they need to forge ahead with creating and delivering innovation to the people that need them.
The challenges facing the industry are real, but so is the momentum to adapt and thrive in the robust Massachusetts life sciences ecosystem. The path ahead requires perseverance, strength, courage, and a relentless focus on innovation across the discovery-to-commercialization value chain. But if the State of Possible Conference made one thing clear, it’s that Massachusetts biopharma isn’t just prepared to endure the storm, it will lead through it.