Biopharma 2024 slowdown threatens Massachusetts’ leadership role

Massachusetts lost 1,100 R&D jobs and saw biomanufacturing employment drop 1.5% in 2024, as biopharma companies contended with dwindling venture capital and federal funding cuts.

Why it matters: The contraction threatens Massachusetts’ standing as a U.S. biotech leader and signals deeper challenges across the national biopharma ecosystem, from slowed innovation to talent loss.

Backstory: Massachusetts has led biopharma growth for years and has the IPOs to prove it, with a peak of 25 IPOs in the year 2021. This peak has sunk by quite a bit and is assisted by the rising interest rates, reduced M&A, and weak IPO markets since 2023. VC funding is down 17% year-over-year as of early 2025 and there has been only one biopharma IPO in MA in 2025. These economic problems have only been compounded by the Trump administration’s policies around the FDA, NIH, and drug pricing.

Big picture:

• NIH funding to Massachusetts dipped 1.4% in 2024 and could fall another $464M in 2025, driven by new federal budget cuts. The Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal would slash $18B more.

• China, meanwhile, grew its biopharma pipeline 17% last year (vs. 6.7% for MA), raising concerns that U.S. talent and innovation may shift overseas.

• Lab vacancies in Boston (38.3%) and Cambridge, MA (22.9%) underscore near-term challenges but could support long-term recovery as companies adapt.

Yes, but: In July 2025 alone, six Massachusetts-based biopharma companies were acquired for a combined $11 billion. This late surge in dealmaking contrasts with the muted M&A activity earlier in the year and may signal renewed investor confidence.