Briefing: Biopharma in Worcester
Biopharmaceutical manufacturing could be a major economic boon for the Worcester area, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers study (PwC) released last month. But that will require a concerted effort by business and government. Biopharmaceuticals made and developed in the commonwealth continue to be manufactured elsewhere due to a lack of viable infrastructure and lower-cost skilled labor, the study found. The Bay State has just 8,960 drug manufacturing workers, well behind California and seven other states, according to PwC. And the United States is only responsible for making 20 percent of active drug ingredients and 60 percent of finished drugs, the study said.
Why would drug manufacturing jobs come to Worcester?
Biopharmaceutical companies have recently shifted from using factories to produce large quantities of a single drug to needing facilities that can make small batches of different drugs on short notice. This has created a need for a flexible, modular biopharmaceutical infrastructure, which can be developed at a relatively low cost. Worcester would be ideal for such facilities, the study argued, due to its colleges, access to public transportation, suitable buildings and favorable cost of living, which is vital given the modest salaries in the industry.
How would companies and workers benefit from the sector’s growth?
The study envisions that facilities in Worcester could produce small batches of drugs for regulatory approval and rapidly increase scale for commercial production. Siting production facilities near the people developing the drugs makes it easier to troubleshoot any problems that arise when transitioning from laboratory prototypes to industrial production, the study said. Plus, biopharmaceutical facilities would make it easier for emerging companies to mature without leaving the commonwealth. Massachusetts has also lost 34.3 percent of its manufacturing jobs over the past decade, the study said, and drug manufacturing would provide job opportunities to the region's under- or unemployed technical workers.
What’s the cost of not investing in biopharmaceutical manufacturing?
The commonwealth's biomedical and life science clusters will suffer if government policies and labor costs continue to drive drug manufacturing away. PwC said. A single commercialized biopharmaceutical can lead to 100 to 400 permanent biomanufacturing jobs, the study found. Many biomanufacturing companies will leave the state for commercialization if Massachusetts continues to not develop the capacity to perform late-stage runs for emerging companies. This could result in 10 to 20 years of lost job opportunities, the study said.
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