Celniker appointed to Center’s Board of Directors
Abbie Celniker, Ph.D., CEO of Cambridge-based Taligen Therapeutics, has been appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. Read the press release here >>
Center celebrates completion of Loeb Laboratory
renovations at MBL
The Center is celebrating completion of a $25 million renovation of the Loeb Laboratory, the Marine Biological Laboratory’s central research training facility, and the establishment of the new Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering. The renovation, funded by a $10 million grant from the Center that leveraged a $15 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), has transformed Loeb into a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as a national resource for science training and discovery. Read the press release here >>
Cutting the ribbon at the newly renovated Loeb Laboratory Building are, from left to right, MBL Board Chair John Rowe, MBL Director & CEO Gary Borisy, MBL Catalyst Campaign lead campaign donor Millicent Bell, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, United States Senator John Kerry, State Senator Robert O’Leary, Congressman William Delahunt, and State Representative Timothy Madden.
Internship Challenge Matches 164 Interns
with 93 Life Sciences Companies
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s 2010 Internship Challenge has received an overwhelming response since its February launch, with nearly 900 applicants seeking internships this summer. Through the Challenge, 164 interns have been matched with 93 life sciences companies, a more than 50% increase from the 104 interns selected in 2009. Participation comes from academic institutions and companies across the state. Read the press release here >>
Life Sciences Center Board Approves 2010 Accelerator Program Loans for Early Stage Companies
Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, congratulations Dustin Armstrong, VP and Head of Research for 4s3 Bioscience, after the company was awarded an Accelerator loan by the Center’s Board of Directors.
In June of 2010 the Center awarded $2.48 million in loans to four early-stage life sciences companies. The Center’s 2010 Accelerator Program provides loans of up to $750,000 to early-stage companies engaged in life sciences research and development, commercialization and manufacturing. Four companies were authorized to receive loans out of thirty-nine applications that were submitted to the Center and competitively peer-reviewed. A second round of the Program is scheduled for the Fall of 2010.
Read the press release here >>
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Provides $50,000 Grant to Support Life Sciences Collaborative’s Biomanufacturing Initiative
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is providing a $50,000 grant to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative to support an initiative aimed at strengthening the state’s biomanufacturing sector through a Massachusetts Biomanufacturing Roundtable and the development of a comprehensive Biomanufacturing action agenda during the 2010 calendar year. Read the press release here >>
Governor Patrick, Life Sciences Center, MassBio and MassMEDIC urge Massachusetts companies to apply for new federal tax credit
On June 17th, 2010 Governor Deval Patrick, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, MassBio and MassMEDIC issued a joint press release calling on Massachusetts companies to apply for the newly established $1 billion Federal Therapeutic Tax Credit Program. The application period opens on June 21 and closes on July 21, 2010. For more information or to read the press release, click here >>
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Supports MIT $100K
Life Sciences Track and Winner Aukera Therapeutics
Aukera Therapeutics has been named the 2010 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition Life Sciences Track Winner. Aukera also won the Audience Choice Award, based on voting by the 1,000 attendees at the Competition’s finale. The company will receive $30,000 in start-up funding from the competition. Aukera Therapeutics is developing a novel protein therapy to treat ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center contributed $10,000 to support the life sciences track. Read the press release here >>
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces 2010 Small Business Matching Grant (SBMG) Program Awards
Center Awards $1.5 million to foster job growth and technology commercialization in the Massachusetts Life Sciences Supercluster
Waltham, MA (May 28, 2010) – The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s Board of Directors today awarded $1.5 million in Small Business Matching Grants to three life sciences companies in Massachusetts. Read more >>
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister congratulates Thermedical President Michael Curley after his company was selected to receive a Small Business Matching Grant from the Center.
Shire opens new manufacturing facility in Lexington
Shire held a grand opening for their new Atlas Manufacturing Facility in Lexington on May 26, 2010. The Center awarded Shire $6.2 million in tax incentives last year to encourage their continued growth in Lexington. The company plans to invest $460 million over the next eight years and plans to hire 750 full-time employees in Lexington as they expand their Human Genetic Therapies division.
From left to right are Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, Shire Human Genetic Therapies President Sylvie Grégoire, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki, and Shire CEO Angus Russell.
Center Announces Investment Partnership
with sanofi-aventis
At Bio 2010 in Chicago the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and sanofi-aventis announced a new investment partnership, with the company joining the Center's Corporate Consortium Program. Sanofi-aventis will contribute $500,000 over two years to support the Center's investment activities. Read the press release here. Read the press release >>
Pictured from left to right are Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, sanofi-aventis Chief Science Officer Dr. Paul Chew, House Ways & Means Chairman Charles Murphy, MOITI Executive Director Ted Carr, and MassBio President Robert Coughlin as they announce a new investment partnership at Bio 2010 in Chicago.
Center Launches 2010 Tax Incentive Program
Life Sciences leaders tour the manufacturing space at Morgan Advanced Ceramics in New Bedford, a recipient of a 2009 award from the Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program. The company received tax incentives totaling $570,000, and in exchange committed to creating nineteen new jobs in 2010 as part of a 25,000 square foot expansion. Pictured from left to right are MassBio President Robert Coughlin, Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, Buddy Rocha from the Massachusetts Office on Business Development, and Morgan Advanced Ceramics Vice President & General Manager Brian Roznoy.
The Center has begun accepting applications for the 2010 Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program. The application period opened on May 3, and applications are due July 2 at 12 pm. For more information about the program, or to access the online application, click here >>
Center welcomes NeoStem to Cambridge
NeoStem, an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the U.S. and China, recently launched the company¡¯s new R&D and adult stem cell collection facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Company officials were joined at the ribbon cutting ceremony by Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, and MassBio President Bob Coughlin. Read more >>
Pictured from left to right are Wayne Marasco, M.D., Chairman of NeoStem¡¯s Scientific Advisory Board, Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, NeoStem Chairman & CEO Dr. Robin Smith, Cambridge City Councilor Sam Seidel, and MassBio President & CEO Robert Coughlin.
Center Launches 2010 Accelerator Program
for Early-stage Companies
The Life Sciences Center has launched the 2010 Accelerator Loan Program, the second year of the Center¡¯s flagship investment program that provides working capital to early-stage life sciences companies. The Center will begin accepting online applications on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 with an application deadline of Wednesday, March 24, 2010. To learn more or to apply, click here >>
Center approves $6.6 million grant for
Gateway Park project in Worcester
February 24, 2010 - The Life Sciences Center has awarded a $6.6 million grant to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to support the next phase of life sciences development at Gateway Park in Worcester. The grant leverages $25 million in private investment for the development of a new 80,000-square-foot life sciences facility anticipated to create 120 construction jobs and 142 new permanent jobs at completion. Read the press release here >>
Roxbury Community College President Dr. Terry Gomes and Life Sciences Center President & CEO Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister prepare to cut the ribbon, officially opening the college¡¯s new Biotechnology Laboratory.
Ribbon Cutting at Roxbury Community College
Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister recently cut the ribbon at Roxbury Community College¡¯s new biotechnology laboratory. The new facility will provide biotechnology and biomanufacturing students with valuable lab skills in the life sciences. The college has two programs in biotechnology including a two year Associate of Science degree and a one year Certificate degree. Students will also gain experience through external internships in biotechnology and the life sciences. There are 32 students enrolled in the college¡¯s Biotechnology Programs, with six students slated to graduate in May 2010.
Center Launches Small Business
Matching Grant Program
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has launched a new Small Business Matching Grant (SBMG) program that will match federal small business grant funding for early-stage life sciences companies in Massachusetts. The Center began accepting on-line applications for the new program on Monday, February 1, 2010. Learn more here >>
Center launches 2010 Internship Challenge
Matt Gethers, 2009 Life Sciences Internship Challenge participant and recent MIT graduate with a degree in biological engineering, at the brand-new lab space of Ginkgo BioWorks in Boston. Photo courtesy of Bay State Banner/Sandra Larson
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is pleased to announce the launch of the 2010 Life Sciences Internship Challenge, the second year of a workforce development program focused on enhancing the talent pipeline for Massachusetts life sciences companies and research institutions. The program will provide summer 2010 internships for up to 150 students or recent graduates who are considering career opportunities in the life sciences. Learn more here >>
Life Sciences Center Awards $25 million in tax incentives
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors has awarded $25 million in Tax Incentives to twenty-eight life sciences companies. The companies receiving tax incentive awards have committed to creating a combined 918 new jobs in the Commonwealth over the coming year. Read the press release >>
Life Sciences Center Welcomes Two International Companies to Massachusetts
CYTOO Cell Architects, a French biotechnology company focused on applications in cell based assays, recently opened their U.S. subsidiary, headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. Read the press release here>>
Center welcomes Systagenix to Quincy
Systagenix Wound Management, a leading medical device company that specializes in cutting-edge chronic wound care solutions, is expanding its operations by opening a North, Central, and South American Headquarters in Quincy, Massachusetts. Read the press release here>>
Center's Investment Leverages
Federal Grant Funding for MBL
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) $802,500 in federal stimulus funds to support the recruitment of scientists specializing in regenerative biology, along with a second grant providing $557,000 for the Laboratory¡¯s intensive Frontiers in Stem Cells and Regeneration training course. Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray visited MBL to participate in the grant announcements. Read the press release>>
Pictured from left to right are Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, MBL Director and CEO Gary Borisy, State Senator Robert O'Leary, and MBL Associate Scientist Alan Kuzirian on a tour of MBL's Marine Resources Center.
Working with leaders in other states
Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister participated recently in a panel discussion before the Executive Committee of the National Lieutenant Governor's Association. The panel, moderated by Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, also included MassBio President & CEO Bob Coughlin, and UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins. Pictured at right are Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter of Arkansas, and Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge of Iowa.
Center Approves $7.7 Million Grant for Phase II of Framingham Economic Development Project
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors has approved a $7.7 million grant to the Town of Framingham for Phase II of a wastewater management project. The project will facilitate the contruction of a Genzyme biomanufacturing facility in the Framingham technology park. The Genzyme facility will create more than 300 new jobs, and the Genzyme and wastewater projects combined will create 165 jobs in construction.
Read the press release here>>
Above: Work crews lower the first piece of the new Framingham
wastewater pumping station into the ground.
Below: Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray visits the construction site on a recent visit to Framingham.
Biocell Center Opens North American
Headquarters in Medford
Biocell Center, a European biotechnology company that is the only firm in the world to harvest and preserve amniotic stem cells, opened its North American headquarters and laboratory in Medford, Massachusetts on October 22, 2009. The company has other facilities in Italy and Switzerland. Read the press release >>
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| Biocell Center and Massachusetts state officials at the opening of Biocell Center¡¯s North American headquarters. Pictured left to right are Marco Reguzzoni, Chairman of Biocell Center, Senator Pat Jehlen, Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn, Governor Deval Patrick, Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, MassBio President & CEO Bob Coughlin, and Kate Torchilin, CEO of Biocell Center. |
Mass General Hospital scientist receives Nobel Prize
Bio Convention to return to Boston in 2012
Governor Deval Patrick, Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Executive Director Jim Rooney, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, and Massachusetts Biotechnology Council President Robert Coughlin joined together on September 28, 2009 to announce that Bio International, the world's largest life sciences trade show, will return to Boston in 2012.
Read the press release here >>
Center to provide $90 million in capital funding for Sherman Center Project at UMass Medical
Governor Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center have announced the approval of $90 million in capital funding toward the construction of the $405 million Albert Sherman Center Project at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). A key targeted investment in the Life Science Act, the facility will further bolster the pioneering life sciences research and medical education taking place at UMass Medical School in Worcester.
Read the press release here >>
The groundbreaking for the Sherman Center project at UMass Medical Center was held on September 17th, 2009.
MBL breaks ground on Loeb Laboratory renovations
Senate President Therese Murray, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and key state officials gathered recently at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) to break ground on a $25 million renovation of the MBL's central research training facility, the Loeb Laboratory. This renovation will create 250 regional construction jobs over the next 15 months and will greatly enhance the MBL's and the state's ability to attract and retain top scientists. The Center is providing a $10 million grant toward the costs of the renovation project.
Read the press release here >>
The groundbreaking for the Loeb Laboratory renovations at MBL was held on September 21st, 2009.
Two Accelerator companies receive FDA approval on medical devices
Two of the Center's seven Accelerator portfolio companies recently received FDA approval for innovative medical technologies. Wadsworth Technologies announced in September, 2009 that their DermaLOC wound closure system had been approved by the FDA. Pluromed announced shortly thereafter that they had received FDA approval for BackStop, a device used in ureteroscopic kidney stone management procedures.
Read the Wadsworth press release here >>
Read the Pluromed press release here >>
Center Co-sponsors Stem Cell Symposium
Life Sciences Internship Challenge Receives Extraordinary Response
The Center's Life Sciences Internship Challenge has received an overwhelming response since its February launch, with more than 500 applicants looking for internships this summer. Through the Challenge, 104 interns have been matched with 59 life sciences companies and research institutions.
Read the press release >>
See a YouTube video about the kick-off event for this program >>
MLSC Life Sciences Internship Challenge participants Lindsay Bonvini, a rising senior at Stonehill College, and Michasel White, a student at UMass Dartmouth, participate in a recent forum co-sponsored by the Center and Citizen Schools to plan new ways to enhance STEM education at the middle-school level. Bonvini and White are interning this summer at the UMass Dartmouth Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center.
Second Round of New Investigator Grants Completed
The Center has completed its second round of New Investigator Matching Grants by awarding $600,000 to three Harvard-affiliated researchers. Read the press release >>
On July 21, 2009, The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and Lasell College held a luncheon to discuss workforce development in the life sciences industry and how Lasell College can expand its curriculum to prepare students for employment opportunities in Massachusetts' life sciences Supercluster. Pictured here from left to right are Angus McQuilken, Vice President for Communications at the Massachusetts Life Schiences Center, Beth Nicklas, Esq., the Center's Vice President and Counsel for Academic Research and Programs, Michael Alexander, President of Lasell College and Paul Perkins, Sr. Director of Finance and Human Resources at EyeGate Pharma.
UMass receives grant to establish Professional Science Masters Degree programs
Congratulations to the University of Massachusetts on being awarded a $124,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to create 10 life sciences Professional Science Masters Degree programs. The initiative will span all five campuses and multiple academic concentrations. The need for such programs was a key finding of the Life Sciences Talent Initiative (LSTI) study that the Center co-sponsored last year. Read the press release >>
View the LSTI report >>
Center awards $1.4 million in New Investigator Grants
On June 24, 2009, The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors awarded $1,380,256 in New Investigator Grants. The Center¡¯s grants will support seven young scientists working at research institutions in Massachusetts. Read the press release >>
Center to continue funding
International Stem Cell Registry
On June 24, 2009, The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors approved $695,000 in continued funding for the International Stem Cell Registry. The Registry is a comprehensive database of current information on stem cells managed by the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.
Read the Press Release >>
Learn more about the ISCR here >>
Happy Anniversary!
June 16, 2009 marks the one-year anniversary of Governor Deval Patrick¡¯s signing of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative. During the Initiative's first year, the Life Sciences Center has invested $46 million in state funding, leveraging $357 million in private and federal investment, and helping to create a prospective 950 jobs.
Center submits comments regarding NIH Draft Guidelines on Stem Cell Research
First Round of Accelerator Loans Approved
The Center's Board of Directors has approved the first round of loans to early-stage companies via the Accelerator program. Read the press release here >>
Massachusetts Biotechnology Council Releases Bioready Campaign Community Ratings
Read the announcement
Learn more about the MBC BioReady Communities Campaign
New Medical Devices Journal
Launches with Feature on MLSC
An interview with MLSC President & CEO Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister is featured in the inaugural edition of the Massachusetts Medical Devices Journal. The Massachusetts Medical Devices Journal is a new online publication covering the medical devices industry in the Commonwealth and New England. Click here to read the interview >>
The Life Sciences Center has moved!
To find our new address in Waltham, our new phone number, or directions, click here.
MLSC President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, State Senator Karen Spilka, Senate Chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, and State Representative Carolyn Dykema on a recent company visit to Caliper Life Sciences in Hopkinton.
Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Plan
Learn more about Governor Deval Patrick's plans for investing federal stimulus funds to strengthen our infrastructure and our innovation economy in the Commonwealth.
Visit the Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Plan web site. You can also access the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act web site here.
MLSC Board Approves Grant for Tufts' New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory
On March 25, 2009 the MLSC Board of Directors approved a $9.5 million grant to support completion of the New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton. Read the press release >>
MLSC Accelerator Program Receives Strong Response
The MLSC has received eighty-eight applications for the Center's Accelerator loan program for early-stage companies. The first round of applications began on January 1, 2009 and closed on March 6, 2009. Click here to read the press release. Read the press release >>
MLSC President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister joins Boston Mayor Thomas Menino at a recent meeting of the Lifetech Boston Advisory Committee
MLSC Board Approves Life
Sciences Internship Challenge
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has launched the Life Sciences Internship Challenge, a workforce development program focused on enhancing the talent pipeline for life sciences companies and research institutions in Massachusetts. The new program will provide Summer 2009 internships to at least 100 undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors who are considering career opportunities in life sciences - in either an industry or academic setting.
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council recently sponsored a UMass Lowell "Take the Initiative" forum to help companies and higher education institutions learn how to access funds available under the state's $1 billion Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, signed into law by Governor Patrick last June. Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, left, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan, center, and Massachusetts Biotechnology Council Vice President John Heffernan were among the speakers.
MLSC prepares for Bio 2009
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is taking the lead role in preparing the Massachusetts presence at Bio 2009, the leading international life sciences trade show that will take place May 18-21 in Atlanta Georgia. Massachusetts will sponsor a 3,000 square foot exhibition pavilion, space that will be shared with Massachusetts-based companies, research institutions and economic development agencies. For more information about participation in Bio 2009, contact MLSC Vice President for Communications Angus McQuilken at amcquilken@masslifesciences.com.
Governor Deval Patrick and MLSC President and CEO Susan Windham-Bannister visit InVivo Therapeutics as part of a tour of the Cambridge Innnovation Center, a business incubator that hosts over a dozen early-stage life sciences companies. InVivo is creating therapies that will improve the quality of life of those who live with spinal cord injury. |
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MLSC President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister (right) leads a panel discussion at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council's 2009 Annual Policy Luncheon. Panelists include (from left to right): Jill Arent, Assistant Vice President, R&D and Regulatory Policy, Wyeth; Reid J. Jeonard, Ph.D, Executive Director, Licensing & External Research, Merck & Co., Inc; and Michael Bonney, President & CEO, Cubist Pharmaceuticals.
MLSC Board approves $7.4 million
grant for expansion of Organogenesis
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors has approved a $7.4 million grant to Canton-based Organogenesis, Inc. to facilitate a major expansion that will create hundreds of jobs. The Center will provide $3.7 million this fiscal year, and $3.7 million during FY 2010. Read the press release here.
Three new members approved
for Scientific Advisory Board
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center has announced the addition of three new members to the organization's Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The three additions, experts representing the Massachusetts scientific investment community, bring the Board's total membership to fifteen. Read the press release here.
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
Launches Tax Incentive and
Early-Stage Investment Programs
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center began accepting on-line applications for the Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program and the Center's new Life Sciences Accelerator investment program on January 1, 2009. See the press release here. To learn more about these programs, and the MLSC matching grant programs, or to apply, click here.
Report from the Life Sciences Talent Initiative
The Technical Report from the Life Sciences Talent Initiative is now available on-line. This version expands upon the information contained in the published version of the report that was released in September, 2008. View both reports here.
Corporate Consortium Program approved
On December 16th, 2008, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors voted to approve a Corporate Consortium Program, with Johnson & Johnson as the charter member. Read the press release here.
Read release >>
Cooperative Research Grants worth $3.7 million awarded
On December 16th, 2008, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board of Directors voted to approve the Center's first round of Cooperative Research Grants. Six grants totaling more than $3.7 million were awarded to fund collaborations between scientists, academic institutions and industry. Read the press release here. Read release >>
MLSC announces location for headquarters
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announced on December 15th, 2008 that its new headquarters will be located at the Bay Colony Corporate Center in Waltham. Read the press release >>
Draft of life sciences certification and tax incentive application released for public review
On Monday, November 24, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center released a draft application for certification and participation in the Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program. Under the Life Sciences Act, the MLSC is authorized to offer a combination of nine different tax incentives to certified life sciences companies, with a cumulative annual cap of $25 million.
Read more >>
Department of Revenue posts final Technical Information Release (TIR) for implementation of Mass Life Sciences Center tax incentive program
November 24th, 2008 (Boston, MA) - The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) has posted on their web site their final Technical Information Release (TIR) (link to final TIR) regarding implementation of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center's tax incentive program for "certified life sciences companies" seeking to grow or begin their businesses in Massachusetts. Chapter 130 of the Acts of 2008, "An Act Providing for the Investment in and Expansion of the Life Sciences Industry in the Commonwealth", authorizes the Center, in consultation with the Department of Revenue, to provide up to $25 million in tax incentives annually, beginning on January 1, 2009. The Center is currently developing the relevant certification criteria, as well as the application process through which companies may apply for tax incentives, a draft of which is available for public review here.
View the Department of Revenue's TIR
$15 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for Marine Biological Laboratory
Governor Deval Patrick and Dr. Osamu Shimomura,
2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry
On November 17, 2008 the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center joined with Governor Deval Patrick and Senate President Therese Murray to announce a $15 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole. The grant was leveraged by a $10 million commitment of state funding contained in the Life Sciences Act that was released by the Life Sciences Center Board on November 18th, 2008, and that will fund a combined $25 million renovation of lab space at MBL. MBL is a leading international, independent, nonprofit institution dedicated to discovery and to improving the human condition through creative research and education in the biological, biomedical and environmental sciences. Founded in 1888, MBL is the oldest private marine laboratory in the Western Hemisphere. Also participating in the event was Dr. Osamu Shimomura, MBL distinguished scientist and 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Read press release >> View more photos >>
Dr. Windham-Bannister is a
Mass High Tech All-Star Awardee
Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, receives a Mass High Tech All-Star Award in recognition of her leadership in promoting the life sciences. Presenting the award is Douglas Banks, Editor of Mass High Tech. Mass High Tech is a weekly publication covering business news of the New England high tech industry.
Mass Life Sciences Center Embraces Recommendations to Address Workforce Needs of Life Sciences Sector
Academia, industry and government collaboration key to preparing for growing life sciences workforce in the Commonwealth
September 16, 2008 (Boston, MA)¡ª The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center embraced a study that says Massachusetts must improve, expand and tailor its educational programs and resources designed to prepare students and workers for jobs in life sciences sector, at a board meeting today. The study lays out recommendations to ensure the life sciences industry will have the talent it needs to grow in the Commonwealth over the next decade.
Read more >>
University of Massachusetts Medical School and Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announce Launch of International Stem Cell Registry
BOSTON ¨C September 11, 2008 ¨C The University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) today announced the launch of the International Stem Cell Registry (ISCR). As an initial component of Governor Deval Patrick¡¯s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative, the ISCR received a $570,000 grant from the MLSC. Read the complete press release >>
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Announces Newly Appointed Board Of Directors
New board votes to approve first-of-its-kind state investment of nearly $7M in
Massachusetts-based Research Matching Grants
BOSTON -July 23, 2008 ¨C The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced its newly formed Board of Directors at the board¡¯s July meeting today, the first meeting since Governor Deval Patrick signed landmark Life Sciences legislation on June 16th. The $1 billion investment package positions Massachusetts as a global leader in the industry and tasks the Center with realizing the vision of the initiative. As one of its first acts, the board voted to approve the recipients of two 2008 Research Matching Grants, totaling nearly $7 million, that will go to foster and grow the scientific research enterprise of the Commonwealth. Read more >>
The $1 billion question
Life Sciences Center chief sees herself as state standard-bearer
Boston Globe | July 20, 2008
Susan Windham-Bannister, 57, has a big job before her: spending $1 billion. The longtime healthcare industry consultant was just tapped to run the new Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with overseeing the state's new $1 billion life sciences initiative. The agency is so new that the Carlisle resident is just the second employee. (Melissa Walsh, the center's chief of staff, is the other.) Globe reporter Todd Wallack sat down with Windham-Bannister recently to find out her vision for the job. Read more >>
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Gov. Deval Patrick signed the $1 billion life sciences bill on June 16, 2008 at the Joslin Diabetes Center. Click thumbnails below to enlarge. |
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Patrick keeps a promise to the biotech industry
Governor set to sign $1b benefit plan
By Todd Wallack
Boston Globe
June 16, 2008
When the world's biggest biotechnology trade show opened in Boston last year, Governor Deval L. Patrick unveiled a bold proposal to pump $1 billion into the state's growing life sciences industry over the next decade.
Today, Patrick is headed to this year's convention in San Diego to tell biotech executives he is finally delivering on that promise. Read more >>
Read many more related articles >>
Life Sciences Head To Market Commonwealth
Windham-Bannister brings little lab time, but a wealth of public policy experience, to new post
By Eileen Kennedy
Worcester Business Journal Staff
06/22/08
At first blush, Gov. Deval Patrick¡¯s appointment of Susan Windham-Bannister to head the state¡¯s Life Sciences Center might seem a little unusual.
After all, as head of the center she will be put in charge of the state¡¯s recently passed $1 billion life sciences initiative. And although she¡¯s worked within the biotechnology industry for years, she¡¯s never been the one handling the test tubes and pipettes.
Read more >>Governor Patrick Meets With Leading
Scientists On Life Sciences
Scientific Review Board Chaired by Dr. Harvey F. Lodish Holds First Meeting Wednesday in Governor¡¯s Council Chamber
BOSTON (May 7, 2008) ¨C Governor Deval Patrick today convened a meeting of leading scientists to discuss ways that Massachusetts can create new economic opportunity and spur new discoveries in the life sciences sector. The Governor welcomed the new 10-member Scientific Advisory Board to the State House and urged them to guide the investment decisions of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC). Read more >>
OFFICIAL LAUNCH
Matching Grant Program for
Researchers in the Life Sciences
On February 11th, 2008, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) officially launched a new Matching Grant Program, designed to fund research at public and private universities and colleges and affiliated research institutions such as academic medical centers and independent research entities in Massachusetts. The program aims to foster and grow the scientific research enterprise of the Commonwealth. Read more >>
Proposed $1 billion investment in biotechnology:
House Bill 4234
Life Sciences Legislation Filed In Massachusetts Legislature on July 19, 2007¡°An Act Providing for the Investment In and Expansion of the Life Sciences Industry in the Commonwealth¡±
On July 19th Governor Deval Patrick submitted a bill to the Legislature outlining a wide-ranging biotech plan. Learn more about the proposed bill >>
The legislation summarized: 
- Funding for Life Sciences Initiative
- $500 million in capital funding
- Strengthening the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Board
- $2.5 million per year over ten years to the Life Sciences Center to fund research grants, fellowships, and sector-wide workforce training initiatives
- Two new board positions
- Capital planning process to implement capital projects, and ten person advisory committee
- Expansion of Tax Code Provisions for Life Sciences Companies
- Creates new Life Sciences Sector Investment Program
- Creates tax incentives for certified life sciences sector projects
- Imposes a yearly project evaluation and provides for project decertification in the event that a company fails to achieve projected ROI
Governor Patrick's Life Sciences Forum
Co-Sponsored by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center,
the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative,
and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development
Furthering the call to boost funding of biomedical research and move forward the Life Sciences Initiative, Governor Deval Patrick hosted a forum which brought together more than 100 business and science leaders on June 21 in Cambridge to brainstorm about the future.
Life Sciences Talent Initiative
A Systematic Analysis of Needs and Capabilities and
Recommendations for a State Strategy
Ensuring that Massachusetts has the talent to meet the needs of the growing life sciences sector is critical to the success of the life sciences initiative. In June 2007, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center board voted to engage the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute to complete a study to determine the life sciences workforce needs throughout the Commonwealth.
Read more >>
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative
Announced by Governor Deval Patrick at BIO 2007
Boston, Massachusetts
At the BIO 2007 convention on May 8, Governor Patrick announced his plan to make Massachusetts the global leader in life sciences, unveiling for the first time a comprehensive, collaborative Massachusetts Life Sciences Strategy.
