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The competition to be recognized among the leading US life sciences hubs is formidable. From the veterans of the East Coast, whose manufacturing and research capabilities date back centuries, to the avant-garde entrepreneurs in the West, a handful of states remain the powerhouses of the life sciences industry in the US and keep reinventing themselves to attract the world’s best talent and capital.

Massachusetts: An unparalleled ecosystem
As states use and abuse statistics to attract investors to their life sciences ecosystems, some data points speak louder than others. For example, one in three venture capitalist dollars invested in the life sciences industry in 2023 landed in a Massachusetts-headquartered company. As public funding remained tenuous for biotechs in 2023 when VC funding provided firms with a much-needed lifeline, such statistics comfort the Bay State’s position as the global epicenter for biotechs.

Despite a rough 2023 for the industry, players in Massachusetts leveraged the state’s maturity to, like in the past, be the last ones to enter a market reset environment and the first one to exit. And, indeed, 2023 figures signal that the nationwide downturn was less felt in the Boston area than elsewhere. As summed by Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, MassBio’s CEO, and president: “Massachusetts saw strong investment in 2023 with approximately US$7.7 billion of VC funding flowing into over 221 Massachusetts headquartered companies. This is our fourth-largest investment year on record. In terms of NIH funding, Massachusetts has long been top of the list per capita as the state is only 2% of the population but receives approximately 9.3% of all NIH funding.”

With R&D part of the DNA of most biotechs and biopharma in the state, access to innovation capital will remain key for the state to keep its leading position. And with that, industry leaders have highlighted that more investment is needed towards biomanufacturing. Indeed, MA-located firms are responsible for close to 15% of the entire US drug development pipeline. Such calls have been answered by regional leaders. In June 2023, Governor Healey announced the intent to reauthorize the third iteration of the Life Science Initiative (LSI) that has been in place since 2008, and in early March 2024, she filed an economic development bill that includes a 10-year, US$1 billion extension. Some key components are capital funds, infrastructure dollars, and tax incentives around biomanufacturing.

New Jersey: Strategically located 
In East Rutherford, Bergen County, during a Jets or Giants football game, chances are your neighbor in the stands works – or has a family member working – in the pharmaceutical industry. Robert Bloder, director Board of Developers and CBO at Ascendia Pharmaceuticals, a NJ-based CDMO, explained: “New Jersey still is the golden triangle and Mecca for pharmaceuticals, and everyone you meet in the state is involved in pharma or knows someone who is.”

In the East Coast biopharmaceutical corridor, New Jersey offers the ideal strategic location for firms from around the world. Home to the busiest seaport in the East, and one of the busiest airport in the country – with five-hour flights to Europe – New Jersey can move pharma executives and products like no other state. Korean giant Samsung Biologics elected NJ for its new manufacturing plant. Even Cellares, a San-Fransciso-born cell therapy manufacturer, elected in January 2024 Somerset County for its new  118,000-sq. ft. manufacturing site in Bridgewater.

To maintain its leading position in the country, policy-makers and industry associations have recognized the importance of bringing early-stage firms into the state. Since the 19th century, the biopharma landscape in the state has historically been dominated by big pharma in NJ – Merck, BMS, J&J are all there – but several biotechs elected the Garden State as home in recent months, including Elucida Oncology, NovaRock Biotherapeutics, and Tris Pharma to name a few. Statistics highlighting the vitality of New Jersey's ecosystem reveal significant growth in bioscience-related venture capital investments, which surged by US$2.3 million in 2021 compared to 2020, reaching US$706.4 million and marking an increase of over US$100 million since 2018. Building on that VC investment growth, Debbie Hart, president of BioNJ, highlighted two other innitiatives: “The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology's US$16 million investment in 274 startups over four years and the Innovation Evergreen Fund attracting fresh venture capital signal ample growth prospects.”

The biggest news coming out of New Jersey in 2024 will most certainly be regarding the upcoming HELIX Health + Life Science Exchange business incubator. Ambitiously presented as a hub “enabling innovators to take action”, the three building incubator will provide 1.5 million square feet of multifaceted, state-of-the-art environments supporting the development of health and life science organizations and professions. Innovation hubs like the HELIX in New Brunswick, NEST Center in Kenilworth, and SciTech Scity in Jersey City underscore NJ’s commitment to advancement. As put by John Patrick Oroho, president and GM of RLDatix Life Sciences: “New Jersey is at the epicenter of the convergence of the healthcare and life science ecosystem, and we are seeing the emergence of the Health & Life Science Exchange (HELIX NJ), an innovation district providing industry, universities, and the state the critical ecosystem to research, learn, work, and collaborate.”

Philly: From lab to market
In January 2024, Governor Shapiro elected life sciences as a key priority for his mandate in the first statewide economic development strategy in nearly two decades. Symbolically, that strategy was announced during a visit to life sciences manufacturing company OraSure Technologies.

Indeed, Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences industry is booming. The area raised $US2.4 billion across 403 VC deals in 2023. While this marks a drop from 2022, which saw 540 deals for US$5 billion, Philadelphia still solidified its leadership in life sciences, securing six of the top 10 deals of the year in that space, emphasizing the region’s strength in key sectors, such as cell & gene therapy. Importantly, the biotech and pharma sector captured US$845.2 million across 38 deals, accounting for six of the 10 largest deals for the region overall.

There is however an obstacle that ought to be overcome for Pennsylvania to unlock its potential fully: The crucial step from scientific research to commercial production. Louis P. Kassa III, president and CEO of the incubator Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC), highlighted that disconnect: “Pennsylvania is in the top six in NIH funding and patents, but we are near the bottom on the commercialization side.”

On the road to more commercial success, the Greater Philadelphia area will be able to count on its unparalleled capabilities in the cell and gene space. Currently, 75% of the companies incubated in B+Labs are in C&G. Roaming the streets of West Philadelphia, one may have noticed a large steel structure copping out of the ground. That site will eventually be Spark Therapeutics’ new Gene Therapy Innovation Center, which will bring “hundreds of the greatest minds in gene therapy together under one roof and also serve as Roche’s flagship center of excellence for gene therapy manufacturing globally” according to the firm.