STAT+: After a years-long slump, Massachusetts biopharma sector has come roaring back in 2026
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- Massachusetts biopharma workforce shrank by about 3,600 jobs in 2025 to a total of 113,503 — the first decline since at least 2002 — per the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council's annual 'industry snapshot.'
- The 3.1% year-over-year contraction was driven by industry headwinds and uncertainty over federal funding for scientific research, according to the trade group.
- Lab buildings in Greater Boston built during the pandemic-era venture capital boom now stand empty, a symbol of what former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan once called 'irrational exuberance.'
- The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council's 2025 snapshot marks the state's first biotech-sector contraction in more than two decades, ending a streak of uninterrupted growth dating to at least 2002.
Why it matters: The 3.1% workforce contraction ends a 20-plus-year streak of uninterrupted growth in Massachusetts' biotech sector, with the trade group attributing the loss to industry headwinds and uncertainty over federal research funding — tying federal science appropriations directly to the state's flagship industry.
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