CAMBRIDGE, MA– The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio®) today released its 2021 Massachusetts Biopharma Funding Report which demonstrates continued growth and confidence in Massachusetts’ world-leading early-stage R&D cluster. Following record-breaking numbers in 2020, 2021 saw an increase of 7o percent — $13.66 billion in total — in venture capital (VC) funding to Massachusetts-based biopharma companies. This increase in VC funding mirrors national trends, and provides additional capital which will drive continued, significant growth of labs, biomanufacturing, and jobs across the state.
According to the report, 36 percent of national VC biopharma investments flowed to Massachusetts biopharma companies in 2021, up from 29 percent in 2020. Statewide, more than 200 companies received over 250 rounds of investment. Furthering the industry’s growth regionally, over 50 percent of Massachusetts-based biopharma companies that went public via IPO and 42 percent that received VC funding in 2021 were located outside of Cambridge.
“The record-breaking VC funding going to Massachusetts biopharma companies is the result of our state’s decades of success as the leader of early-stage R&D,” said Joe Boncore, CEO of MassBio. “Exciting, new biotech companies are launching every day across Massachusetts and investors want to be involved from the start – not only for potentially good returns, but also for the chance of playing a role in the creation of a breakthrough medicine.”
The increase in VC funding was paired with a strong IPO market for emerging biotech companies. 2021 saw an increase in Massachusetts-based initial public offerings (IPO) over the previous year with 25 IPOs, up from 21 in 2020, with an average deal size of $154 million. Notably, 28% of all US-based biopharma IPOs in 2021 were from Massachusetts-based companies.
“As we’ve seen from previous years, these capital investments in Massachusetts biopharma companies will lead to further demand for lab and biomanufacturing space across the Commonwealth,” said Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, President and COO of MassBio. “This will create additional job opportunities and economic opportunities for people across the state. Now, we must lead collaborative private-public efforts to ensure the talent pipeline in the near and long-term is broad and diverse.”
The 2022 Massachusetts Biopharma Funding Report is a supplement to MassBio’s annual Industry Snapshot released in August and is produced in partnership with Evaluate®, the premier source for commercial analysis of the pharma and biotech sector.
