The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) continues to support a life sciences ecosystem that is driving significant global momentum in 2026, with major IPOs, acquisitions, and strategic investments further reinforcing the Commonwealth’s position as a global leader in innovation and discovery.
So far in 2026, the Commonwealth has seen over $30 billion in mergers & acquisitions and $1.5 billion in IPOs, marking the industry’s strongest reopening since 2022. These major announcements include a wide variety of past MLSC awardees and partners, which include:
MLSC Awardee and Partner Highlights
CereVasc Inc. recently raised $85 million in Series C funding, and plans to open a 15,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Wilmington to house its manufacturing and additional office space. In 2025, CereVasc was awarded $204,000 through the MLSC’s Tax Incentive program.
Ascidian Therapeutics and Lilly recently announced a research collaboration worth up to $1.9 billion. Ascidian’s work is centered on rewriting RNA by editing and replacing human exons, which fits into the local expertise of Lilly. Lilly has previously received funding through the MLSC’s Tax Incentive program, and has participated in the Neuroscience Consortium.
Lilly recently announced that it is purchasing three vaccine developers in deals collectively worth up to $4 billion. The three companies are Curevo, a Seattle-area company developing a vaccine against shingles; LimmaTech Biologics, a Swiss firm targeting staph infections; and Vaccine Co., homing in on the Epstein-Barr virus.
Parabilis Medicines, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company built to develop transformative medicines addressing some of the most consequential, yet historically undruggable, protein targets driving human disease, is planning to become the eighth Massachusetts biotech company to file for an IPO this year. Parabilis received $272,000 through the MLSC’s Tax Incentive program to create 14 jobs in 2025.
Agilent Technologies is doubling the size of its existing Massachusetts manufacturing facility with a major capital investment of more than $40 million to build out an 85,000-square-foot expansion in Chicope, MA. In 2019, Agilent has served as an industry partner for the MLSC’s Bits to Bytes program, and has received MLSC Tax Incentives to support 50 new jobs in Chicopee.
PathAI, a US-based company in digital pathology and AI-powered technology for pathology laboratories and the biopharma industry, was acquired by Roche for $750 million in May. This acquisition builds on a longstanding collaboration between the two companies focused on advancing AI-enabled companion diagnostics and pathology technologies. PathAI has served as an industry partner for projects through the MLSC’s Bits to Bytes and Women’s Health Collaboration programs.
Kelonia Therapeutics, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, and Orna Therapeutics were all acquired by Lilly in 2026, reflecting continued investments in Massachusetts-based innovation across cell therapy, neuroscience, and RNA therapeutics. Lilly has previously received funding through the MLSC’s Tax Incentive program.
Kelonia Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new wave of genetic medicines using its in vivo gene placement system (iGPS®), was acquired by Lilly in April for $7 billion. Kelonia is building a pipeline of genetic medicines across a range of diseases, with the goal of making CAR-T cell therapies accessible to every patient in need. Kelonia Therapeutics previously received funding through the MLSC’s Internship programming.
Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a company developing a new class of medicines for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness and other neurological conditions, was acquired in March for $7.8 billion to strengthen Lilly’s neuroscience research pipeline.
Orna Therapeutics, a Watertown-based company dedicated to engineering immune cells in vivo, was acquired in February for $2.4 billion to expand Lilly’s cell therapy and circular RNA capabilities.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, a leader in advancing treatments for serious, complement-driven diseases, was acquired by Biogen for $5.6 billion in March, expanding Biogen’s immunology and rare disease portfolio. Apellis and Biogen have both previously received funding through the MLSC’s Tax Incentive program.
Boston-based Astria Therapeutics was acquired by BioCryst, a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for hereditary angioedema and other rare diseases, for $874 million in January. Astria previously received funding through the MLSC’s Internship programming.
Additional Highlights from the Massachusetts Ecosystem
Aerska, a Dublin-based biotech company working on RNA medicines to delay, treat, and prevent diseases of the brain, is establishing a presence in Massachusetts through a partnership with Bayer Co.Lab. Aerska’s space will be located at the Co.Lab within the Bayer Research and Innovation Center in Kendall Square.
CREATE Medicines recently announced the closing of a $122 million Series B funding round to advance its in vivo CAR pipeline in autoimmune disease and oncology. To date, CREATE has dosed more than 50 patients across its in vivo CAR clinical programs, the largest clinical dataset in the field generating the translational foundation that informs development across both autoimmune disease and oncology.
CBSET, A Massachusetts-based preclinical biomedical research organization, is expanding its presence with the build out of a 110,000-square-foot facility in Waltham, MA. Founded by Elazer Edelman and Peter Markham in 2006, CBSET has been providing translational research and product development services for customers working in medical device, pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biomedical research for two decades.
Odyssey Therapeutics Inc. recently announced a $279 million IPO in May. The Boston company is seeking to transform the standard of care for patients suffering from autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by developing medicines that are designed to precisely target disease pathology.
Hemab Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing therapies for rare blood coagulation disorders, completed a $300 million IPO in May. The Cambridge company is developing innovative antibody-based treatments designed to address significant unmet needs in bleeding and thrombotic diseases.
Naveris, a Waltham-based precision oncology diagnostics company with a blood‑based monitoring solution for viral‑mediated cancers, was acquired by CareDx for up to $160 million in April. The transaction is an extension of CareDx’s strategy to focus on its U.S. Precision Medicine Testing Services and Patient and Digital Solutions.
Avalyn Pharma completed a $300 million IPO in April to support development of inhaled therapies for rare respiratory diseases. The Boston company is advancing optimized inhaled formulations of established antifibrotic medicines designed to deliver drug directly to the lungs, enhance local efficacy, and reduce systemic side effects.
Seaport Therapeutics announced a $255 million IPO in April to advance treatments for depression, anxiety, and other debilitating neuropsychiatric disorders. Through its differentiated approach, the Boston-based company identifies clinically validated mechanisms with established efficacy and safety which had historically been limited by high first-pass metabolism, low bioavailability, and side effects.
Kailera Therapeutics, an advanced clinical-stage biotechnology company, completed a $625 million IPO in April. The Waltham-based company is focused on advancing next generation therapies for obesity and metabolic disease.
KalVista Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Chiesi, an international research-focused biopharmaceutical group, for $1.9 billion in April. This acquisition represents an important milestone in Chiesi’s rare disease strategy, reinforcing its commitment across generations to improving the lives of people living with rare conditions.
Hologic Inc., a global leader in women’s health diagnostics, was acquired by Blackstone and TPG for $18.3 billion in April, taking the company private.
Generate Biomedicines, Inc., a clinical-stage generative biology company pioneering the AI revolution in biotechnology and drug design and development, announced a $400 million IPO in February. The Somerville company is pioneering Generative Biology™, a revolutionary approach to drug development that allows the programming of protein-based modalities.
BioVentrix announced a $17 million IPO in February to support commercialization of minimally invasive cardiac devices for heart failure patients. The Mansfield medtech company is advancing technologies designed to restore heart function using a less invasive alternative to traditional open-heart surgical approaches.
Boston Scientific announced its $14.5 billion acquisition of Penumbra, the world’s leading thrombectomy company, in January to expand its cardiovascular research portfolio. Penumbra’s portfolio includes computer-assisted vacuum thrombectomy (CAVT), which centers on removing blood clots from every part of the body with speed, safety and simplicity.
Aktis Oncology completed a $318 million IPO in January to advance cancer treatment. Located in Boston, the company is focused on expanding the breakthrough potential of targeted radiopharmaceuticals to large patient populations, including those not addressed by existing platform technologies.
