MA Biopharmas Raised Record $5.8 Billion in VC Funding in 2020

The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council’s newly-released 2020 Massachusetts Biopharma Funding Report shows that the Massachusetts biopharma industry experienced its best funding year on record. In 2020, venture capital investment in Massachusetts-based companies reached $5.8 billion, surpassing 2018’s previous record high of $4.8 billion.

In addition, 21 Massachusetts-based biopharma companies went public in 2020, a 110% increase from 2019, totaling $3.9 billion raised by IPO. These Massachusetts-based companies accounted for 32% of all United States-based biopharma IPOs by volume. Additionally, two Massachusetts-based biopharmas went public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger in 2020, representing 50% of all United States-based biopharma SPAC mergers in 2020.

“At a time when the world was struck by a global public health crisis, the biopharma industry responded swiftly and demonstrated its value by creating highly effective vaccines in record time and developing therapeutics and diagnostics to protect patients from a novel virus,” said Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, President and COO, MassBio. “As this report shows, the industry’s unwavering commitment to patients and public health has generated enormous confidence in biopharma’s R&D abilities, even beyond the pandemic, leading to unprecedented levels of investment across the industry…”

The report also found that Massachusetts’ leadership in the life sciences continues to expand beyond the Boston/Cambridge epicenter, as the state’s mini-clusters gain a stronger foothold within the industry. More than 50% of Massachusetts-based biopharma companies that received VC funding in 2020 were located outside of Cambridge, and nearly 40% of Massachusetts-based biopharma companies that went public were located outside of Cambridge. (Source: Massachusetts Biotechnology Council Website, 04 March, 2021)

Download the full 2020 Biopharma Funding Report here.