{"id":813093,"date":"2026-07-20T22:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T22:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/813093\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T22:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T22:24:12","slug":"massachusetts-economy-biotech-boom-meets-dc-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/813093\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts economy: Biotech boom meets DC interference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Investors turned cold on tech stocks, including Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX, which lost $1 trillion in market value and is trading below its initial public offering price<\/a>. And on Monday morning, soccer fans everywhere were coming down from the high of the just-completed World Cup. (\u00a1Enhorabuena La Roja!<\/a>)<\/p>\n

But I\u2019d like to zoom in on some local developments during the two weeks I tried \u2014 unsuccessfully \u2014 to ignore the news. They\u2019re important because they underscore a recurring Trendlines theme<\/a>: the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the Massachusetts economy.<\/p>\n

Get Trendlines<\/p>\n

A business newsletter from Globe Columnist Larry Edelman covering the trends shaping business and the economy in Boston and beyond.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the good news. <\/p>\n

The Massachusetts Port Authority approved a preliminary plan<\/a> for a major remodeling and expansion of Logan Airport\u2019s Terminal C, a 1960s-era building that is used primarily by JetBlue Airways.<\/p>\n

Why it matters: It\u2019s a billion-dollar vote of confidence by JetBlue and its partner, Vantage Group, in Boston remaining a key tourist and business travel hub. <\/p>\n

The details: Vantage Group is set to finance the renovation, taking a cut of lease payments and concession revenue to recoup its costs. Vantage led the rebuilding of LaGuardia Airport\u2019s main terminal, a $5.1 billion undertaking that was finished in 2022. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, Massport is not contemplating putting any dollars in,\u201d said Richard Davey, the authority\u2019s chief executive.<\/p>\n

The risk: JetBlue has hit a lot of financial turbulence. It lost money in each of the past five years (total red ink: $2.25 billion) and is carrying $8.6 billion in long-term debt. Massport has a lot riding on JetBlue\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

After a prolonged lull, biotech companies are going public at a robust clip \u2014 and Massachusetts is leading the pack.<\/p>\n

Ten biotechs have completed initial public offerings this year in deals raising at least $200 million. Eight are based in the Boston area, the Boston Business Journal reported<\/a>, and together they brought in $3.2 billion \u2014 closing in on the local full-year record of $3.9 billion in 2020.<\/p>\n

Why it matters: IPOs allow biotechs to raise the large sums needed to fund clinical trials, while also giving early investors a way to cash out and recycle that capital into the next generation of startups. <\/p>\n

The numbers: There were just 11 Massachusetts biotech IPOs from 2023 through 2025, down from 21 in 2020 alone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Parabilis Medicines<\/a>, a Cambridge cancer drug developer, brought in $670 million in its June IPO, the most by a biotech this year, plus nearly $75 million from a simultaneous private sale of shares to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Its stock has gained 38 percent since the deal.<\/p>\n

In April, Kailera Therapeutics, a Waltham company working on obesity treatments, raised $625 million<\/a>. Its stock has risen nearly 14 percent since the IPO.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next: More IPOs are in the works.<\/p>\n

Bill Burkoth, a senior director at Silicon Valley Bank, told the Boston Business Journal that investment banks he speaks with are expecting another 12 to 15 US deals by the end of September. <\/p>\n

Now, the not-so-good news. <\/p>\n

The Trump administration is moving ahead with new rules that could hurt Massachusetts\u2019 all-important higher education and research sectors.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced a policy change <\/a>capping student visa holders\u2019 stays at four years unless they receive an extension. It amends a longstanding policy that provided open-ended stays as long as students made progress toward their degree or research objectives.<\/p>\n

The move comes as the administration plans new guidelines<\/a> that would give political appointees final say on federal grants to ensure they meet its priorities. While the proposal would affect awards across a range of fields, it is expected to hit health and science research hardest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed rule appears to expand political control of scientific and other grants, downgrade the role of peer review and effectively limit researchers\u2019 ability to disseminate their findings and collaborate internationally,\u201d The New York Times reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why it matters: The administration\u2019s grant-review proposal is expected to have an outsize effect on Massachusetts, a state whose politics are deeply at odds with Trump\u2019s policies, according to The Boston Globe\u2019s Allyson Chiu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts receives more National Institutes of Health funding per capita than any other state. <\/p>\n

The state\u2019s colleges and universities are also under pressure as the administration has attempted to increase visa costs and cancel visas, the Globe\u2019s Michaela Towfighi explained last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven as judges have ruled against these efforts, enrollment from international students has still decreased by an average of 20 percent over the last year,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Final thought: It\u2019s a complicated moment for the local economy.<\/p>\n

Biotech is on the upswing, and the Logan expansion is proof positive that Boston remains a key player in the US and global economies.<\/p>\n

Can Massachusetts keep moving forward despite Washington\u2019s headwinds? That\u2019s a question that will define the next two years.<\/p>\n

Larry Edelman can be reached at larry.edelman@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Investors turned cold on tech stocks, including Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX, which lost $1 trillion in market value and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":813094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-813093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/813094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}