The grant announcement comes as the Center recognizes the second anniversary of Governor Deval Patrick’s signing of the state’s ten-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative. The Center, the quasi-public agency charged with implementing the Initiative, has thus far committed $188 million in state funds, leveraged more than $700 million in additional outside investment, and created a projected 6,500 jobs.
“Life sciences companies both large and small are currently engaged in bio and medical device manufacturing in facilities across the state, and the prospects for further growth in this area are enormous,” said Governor Patrick. “The collaboration that this grant will enable is all about creating jobs in skilled manufacturing, and creating a blueprint for enhancing our state’s leadership in this area.”
“The Biomanufacturing Roundtable represents an important partnership between the Life Sciences Center and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative, and an extraordinary opportunity to capitalize on our state’s wealth of biomanufacturing talent and innovation,” said Windham-Bannister. “Many of our early investments at the Life Sciences Center have been designed to enable, encourage and retain biomanufacturing in Massachusetts. Biomanufacturing is an area of strength, and an area with enormous growth potential for the Massachusetts economy.”
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative (LSC) 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.
LSC is staffed by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and is charged to maintain a comprehensive and innovative strategy that will strengthen the state’s leadership in the life sciences sector. The Massachusetts biomanufacturing opportunity was identified by the LSC as a priority for investigation, and through a joint effort with the MIT Industrial Performance Center and the John Adams Innovation Institute, the LSC determined that Massachusetts is a biomanufacturing leader with strong potential for growth in biomanufacturing production and innovation.
“The Massachusetts Biomanufacturing Roundtable effort is a key initiative of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative built on our model of determining opportunities for action through rigorous, data-based analysis and stakeholder input,” said Glen Comiso, Director of Life Sciences and Health at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. “The funding from the Life Sciences Center will allow the newly formed Roundtable to develop a comprehensive action plan focused on enabling this region to achieve its potential in biomanufacturing.” The Life Sciences Center has made a number of early investments in biomanufacturing:
• The Center awarded a grant of $12.9 million to the town of Framingham for wastewater improvements that are allowing Genzyme to build a $250 million biomanufacturing plant in the Framingham Technology Park. The project will bring more than 300 new jobs to Framingham.
• The Center awarded a grant of $7.9 million to Organogenesis, a leading regenerative medicine company located in Canton, that will support the company’s efforts to build one of the world’s most advanced tissue manufacturing plants, while adding 280 new jobs.
• A $6.2 million tax incentive award that the Center is providing to Shire is supporting the expansion of their Human Genetic Therapies division in Lexington. The company plans to invest $460 million over the next eight years and plans to hire 750 full-time employees in Lexington. Shire recently cut a ribbon on their new manufacturing facility in Lexington.
• A $189,000 tax incentive award that the Center is providing to Lightlab Imaging in Westford is being utilized to hire at least 29 new assembly workers to manufacture the company’s cutting-edge coronary imaging systems. • In New Bedford, the $570,000 tax incentive that the Center is providing to Morgan Advanced Ceramics is facilitating the addition of $25,000 square feet of new manufacturing space. Morgan Advanced Ceramics produces advanced ceramic materials for use in medical applications. The company has committed to hiring at least nineteen new workers.
• The Center is providing a capital grant of $6.6 million to support the construction of new facilities at Gateway Park in Worcester. The grant supports, among other initiatives, the development of WPI’s Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center (BETC). The BETC is planning a 10,000-square-foot facility that will provide hands-on biomanufacturing training to support industry workforce development.
• The Center has provided a three-year, $750,000 grant to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell to fund faculty recruitment in biomanufacturing science and engineering.
The investments mentioned above were made under the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, which was signed into law by Governor Patrick two years ago this month.
“The Life Sciences Initiative is creating thousands of jobs and contributing to our state’s economic recovery while advancing good science that will improve the human condition,” said Governor Patrick. “That’s why I proposed these investments back in 2007, and I’m pleased to see such a solid, ongoing return on investment for the taxpayers of Massachusetts.”
“Through a strategy of leveraging outside dollars, we’ve been able to generate nearly $1 billion in overall investment in our state’s life sciences Supercluster in just a two-year period,” said Windham-Bannister. “All of these investments have been made with an eye toward our bookend objectives of creating jobs and advancing scientific discovery. We are making significant progress, and look forward to continued progress in the year ahead.”
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community. For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.
