September 2023

At yesterday's R&D Day presentation, Moderna announced plans to launch up to 15 new products and advance as many as 50 mRNA medicines into clinical trials over the next five years. The company also discussed dropping four programs, including a first-generation Covid and flu combo vaccine.

Comments from Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel were reported by Endpoints News: “We’ll continue to look at that pipeline and determine whether or not there are opportunities for us to focus our efforts as we move forward. We have a blessing and a curse in terms of how productive this platform is, and any time we see an opportunity to focus our energy on programs that we think are the most important to move forward, we’ll do so.”

Congratulations to the team at HepatoChem, a leading innovator and manufacturer of photoreactors, metabolites, and LEDs, for its expansion to a new suite at 100 Cummings Center in Beverly. HepatoChem is a former member company at InnoVenture Labs, a biotech and cleantech startup incubator also located at Cummings Center.

Marc Bazin is the company's founder and president.

In more InnoVenture Labs news, with the completion of its recent expansion, two member companies have moved into new lab condos. Congratulations to TurtleTree, a biotech company preparing to release the world's first sustainably produced lactoferrin, and FireCyte Therapeutics, an emerging biotechnology company that is developing novel treatment strategies focused on the role of microglia and neuroinflammation in progressive neurogenerative diseases of the eye.

Crowds gathered on September 5 at Endicott College to celebrate and dedicate the new home of Cummings School of Nursing & Health Sciences. Cummings School intends to help stem widespread nursing shortages and establish the Beverly college as a major destination for health care education.

The ceremony follows a $20 million gift made by Cummings Foundation in 2021. This commitment, the largest in Endicott’s history, supported the construction of a next-generation academic center for future health care professionals.

Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI), the longest-running nonprofit life sciences startup incubator in the Commonwealth, announced last week that Biocytogen has committed to donate $375,000 to MBI's Blue Beaker Campaign to help fund the development of its new pilot Biomanufacturing Center. Biocytogen is a global life science company that began at MBI, grew in Woburn, and recently expanded to Waltham.

Earlier this week, LabShares, a Newton provider of shared laboratory facilities, advanced equipment, and associated services for life sciences and biotech customers, announced that life sciences industry veteran Philip Borden (right) and investor Pacific Lake Partners have acquired a majority stake in the company. Mr. Borden will assume the role of CEO, while LabShares founder and former CEO Jeff Behrens has joined the Board of Directors and remains a shareholder and close advisor to the company. Read about the company's expansion plans in Boston Business Journal.

Are you going to BIOMEDevice Boston September 20-21? Be sure to visit Goddard Technologies at booth #824. Goddard will be there to chat about medical device design, human factors engineering, and all things product development. Goddard is a Cummings client at 100 Cummings Center, Beverly.

Band entries are now being accepted for the 2024 Battle of the Bio\Tech Bands. If you are a life science or tech company and are interested in competing, please reach out via LinkedIn to Carly Bassett and Sylvia Beaulieu or battleofbiotech@gmail.com for the submission form. The deadline is October 13, and the Battle will be held May 8, 2024.

Cummings is pleased to offer a 16,600 SF lab suite coming in early 2024 in the Woburn life sciences cluster. Join established and emerging biotechnology companies in the 12 Gill Street lab and office building located just off I-95 near the I-93 interchange. The area features numerous dining and shopping amenities, including the nearby Woburn Village lifestyle center and Anderson Regional Transportation Center.

Contact John Halsey at jrh@cummings.com or 781-983-7039 for details.

Key features include:

• Multiple individual lab rooms from 250 to 750 SF
• Office area with continuous window line
• Extensive benchwork and fume hoods
• BL2 compliant construction with vinyl-faced ceiling tiles, epoxy-painted walls, and VCT floor
• 100% outside air HVAC system

12 Gill Street life sciences neighbors include:

Startup Boston Week is back for its seventh annual conference, continuing through Friday. This year's theme is "The Audacity! Daring to Defy the Odds." The event connects founders, startup employees, mentors, advisors, investors, students, and startup-curious folks - anyone who plays a role in helping to both start and scale a company.

Our friends at FORGE (a 2023 Cummings Foundation grant recipient) are among the organizers of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Mash-Up, to be held September 19 at Polar Park in Worcester. Presented by Massachusetts Center for Advanced Manufacturing at the MassTech Collaborative, the Mash-Up is not your typical conference - it's a premier event that brings together the most innovative people from around the state to network, collaborate, and conquer industry challenges.

The next virtual BioXchange will be held Wednesday, September 27 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. This free forum provides an opportunity to interact with individuals throughout the life sciences industry from all over the world. Register.

Mark your calendar for the second annual North Shore Technology Council (NSTC) Women in Technology Forum. This year's theme is "Women on a Mission: Technology for the Greater Good" and will feature a keynote by Erika Angle, CEO of Ixcela, and a panel discussion with Kerry Love, CEO of public benefit corporation Sunflower Therapeutics, Donna Brezinski, CEO of Little Sparrows Technologies, and Ioana Knopf, founder and CEO of Arrakis Materials. West Hill Technology Counsel founding attorney Louise Leduc Kennedy will serve as moderator. Thursday, October 19, 5:00 - 8:00 PM at Fernwood Country Club, Danvers. Register.

Save the date! On Thursday, November 9 MassBio will host the 2023 Patient Advocacy Summit, showcasing the role and the work that patient advocates do everyday to ensure that patients are front and center in the drug development cycle. 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM, MassBioHub, 700 Technology Square, Cambridge. Register.

Python powers the biggest discoveries in science, and is the most widely used programming language to clean, manipulate, and visualize complex datasets. 

Do you know how to use Python to help fast-track your work?

Weekend.Dev workshops are designed to teach and put into use the word's most widely used programming language. Over a weekend, participants learn data science using Python from a world class instructor from Carnegie Mellon University and University of Virginia. The next workshop will be held October 28 - 29. Visit weekend.dev for pricing and details.

Wolfgang Richter is the program instructor. He is also director of engineering at Soroco.

ICYMI: Bill Cummings was featured in New York Post over the weekend, sharing his perspective on the "lifetime habits" needed to succeed, and what he looks for in a job applicant. Being frugal is just one quality that has enabled Bill to build Cummings Properties to 11 million square feet of commercial real estate, whose rental profits fund the $4 billion Cummings Foundation. Read Bill's tips for building a career, and if you're looking for a new opportunity, check out our careers page. We are hiring!