Mass. biopharma sector grew 34%

Growth in the state's biopharma includes GE Helathcare's facility in Marlborough that employs approximately 500 people.

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By State House News Service

Employment in biopharmaceutical manufacturing in Massachusetts grew by 34 percent over the past 10 years, a period when the sector lost nearly 8 percent of its jobs nationally, according to a new report, which noted 9 million square feet of commercial lab space has been added in Massachusetts since 2007.

MassBio's annual industry report also concluded that the number of drug candidates associated with companies headquarters in Massachusetts totaled 1,645 in 2015, a 10 percent increase over 2014. It said Massachusetts accounts for 13 percent of the drug development pipeline in the United States.

Biomanufacturing employment in Massachusetts grew by 6.3 percent in 2015, compared to 2014, and MassBio said the Bay State continues to lead the nation in biotechnology research and development jobs, with 31,469 positions in 2015 and 63,026 total biopharma industry jobs. The average salary was $147,432.

The state's largest biopharma employers are Sanofi Genzyme, Biogen, Shire, Novartis, Takeda, Pfizer, Parexel International, Quest Diagnostics, Vertex, Charles River Laboratories and EMD Millipore, according to the report.

Noting product lines had blurred between drugs, diagnostics and devices, the trade group said it has begun tracking the medical device segment of the life sciences industry and determined that employment in that sector is down by 6.9 percent over the last 10 years, "which puts Massachusetts in the middle of the pack of states with the largest number of medical device jobs."

The report also highlighted a "turnaround" in seed-stage funding for Massachusetts companies, a 14 percent increase in drug candidates in clinical trials from Massachusetts-headquartered companies, and a record $2.1 billion in venture investment in Massachusetts in 2015, with the Bay State receiving 28 percent of all venture capital dollars in biotech in the U.S.

Massachusetts is in the final years of implementation of a 10-year, $1 billion life sciences law signed by Gov. Deval Patrick. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency, was created by that 2008 law and charged with implementing much of the statute.