Innovation Through Collaboration

Setting the Model for Pathmaker

The MLSC continues to expand access to life sciences careers through its Pathmaker program, which supports innovative training courses that prepare Massachusetts residents for in-demand roles across the industry. To date, Pathmaker has awarded nearly $19 million to create over 1,690 training opportunities through 28 awards.

Middlesex Community College (MCC) was among the recipients, receiving a $429,221 award to support 72 training opportunities, bringing the MLSC’s total Pathmaker investment in MCC to more than $3.6 million. The awards were announced at MCC’s Bedford campus during a dual ribbon cutting for the Henderson Hall Life Sciences Center and the Robotics and Automation Training Lab, two new training facilities supported by $1.5 million in capital grants from the MLSC. Together, the facilities are expanding MCC’s ability to provide hands-on, industry-aligned training in a variety of life science specializations. The new robotics lab is also serving as the hub for MCC’s PathmakerTECH program in advanced manufacturing and medical device automation.

This investment builds on a longstanding partnership among the MLSC, MCC, and Insulet Corporation that originally helped establish the blueprint for the Pathmaker program. Beginning in 2022, MCC and Insulet collaborated to develop a workforce training model designed to connect residents directly to careers in medical device manufacturing. The partnership demonstrated how employers and educational institutions can work together to align curriculum, hands-on training, and hiring needs, serving as a conduit for similar partnerships located throughout the Commonwealth.

Since the launch of Pathmaker, Insulet has hired more than 40 program graduates, with many advancing into new roles and leadership opportunities within the company. The partnership has also earned national recognition, with Insulet being named as a finalist for the American Association of Community Colleges’ Outstanding Corporate and Collegiate Partnership Award for its collaboration with MCC. Additionally, Insulet has received $26.3 million in MLSC Tax Incentive awards supporting the creation of 1,084 jobs, further expanding the company’s position as an industry leader who started and scaled right here in Massachusetts.

The relationship between Insulet and MCC is a remarkable example of how coordinated partnerships, supported by MLSC investments, can create clear pathways to valuable employment opportunities for Massachusetts residents while ensuring that companies have access to the skilled workforce required to continue expanding and innovating in the Commonwealth.

Creating Pathways for Diverse Founders and Innovators

When government and industry leaders unite through the MLSC’s Massachusetts Next Generation (MassNextGen) Initiative, they create a powerful public-private partnership that expands opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs. By providing these founders with access to critical funding, coaching, and industry connections, MassNextGen helps accelerate the growth of innovative life sciences companies while advancing a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable ecosystem in Massachusetts.

In the fall, Takeda, MassNextGen’s Anchor Platinum Sponsor, hosted the MLSC’s MassNextGen Initiative Showcase, where nine entrepreneurs presented their companies and technologies to an audience of investors and industry stakeholders. The event highlighted the groundbreaking work being developed by emerging founders and fostered valuable connections to support their continued growth.

The event also featured a fireside chat with Massachusetts Executive Office of Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley and Takeda U.S. Business Unit President Rhonda Pacheco. Together, they discussed the current investment landscape, the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s DRIVE Initiative, and the importance of inclusion in building a strong innovation economy.

Originally launched in 2018 to ensure greater gender parity in the next generation of life science entrepreneurs, MassNextGen has expanded in recent years to support a larger pool of entrepreneurs with a broader, more inclusive focus.

This year, the MLSC also announced the eighth cohort of MassNextGen awardees. The four companies selected represent a wide range of applications to advance innovative technologies in life sciences and improve public health.

Awardees of MassNextGen receive a year-long customized package of support, which includes non-dilutive grant funding and access to a network of seasoned professionals from the life sciences ecosystem, helping them to refine their business strategies and effectively raise capital.

The program fosters an organic community of entrepreneurs where awardees collaborate with like-minded leaders sharing experiences, ideas, and a sense of belonging.

Since its founding in 2018, the MassNextGen portfolio has grown to 39 companies, including 19 previous awardees that have raised a Seed or Series A financing round. To date, MassNextGen companies have raised more than $401 million in follow-on funding.

Increasing the number of successful entrepreneurs benefits the entire life science industry, underscoring the intentional nature of this program’s public-private partnerships between the MLSC and our corporate sponsors.

How BIDMC is Advancing New Solutions for
Drug-Resistant Respiratory Infections

For patients living with severe drug-resistant lung infections, treatment options can be limited and outcomes uncertain. Through strategic investments in research and innovation, the MLSC is helping researchers develop new tools and therapies to address some of the most challenging infectious diseases facing patients today.

At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Dr. James Kirby, Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory and Principal Investigator in the Experimental Pathology Division, is leading efforts to improve the diagnosis and treatment of Mycobacterium abscessus, a highly drug-resistant bacterium that can cause severe and often life-threatening lung disease.

Supported by an award through the Novel Therapeutics Delivery track of the MLSC's Accelerating Research through Collaboration (ARC) Awards, Dr. Kirby and his team have combined cutting-edge laboratory technologies with large-scale antibiotic testing to identify new therapeutic approaches for patients with few effective treatment options.

Using MLSC-funded equipment and laboratory infrastructure, the team evaluated hundreds of antibiotics and antibiotic combinations to uncover new strategies for combating drug-resistant infections that can cause severe lung disease. Their research identified several promising oral drug combinations and found that azithromycin, a widely used antibiotic that often loses effectiveness against resistant infections, could regain activity when combined with other therapies. The team also demonstrated the potential of apramycin, a novel antibiotic that may offer a safer treatment option while maintaining strong activity against the pathogen.

Beyond these treatment discoveries, the MLSC’s investments helped establish advanced diagnostic and testing capabilities at BIDMC, including next-generation sequencing and innovative laboratory technologies designed to rapidly evaluate antibiotic effectiveness.

These tools have helped researchers identify previously unrecognized mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, respond more quickly to emerging infectious threats, and accelerate the development of personalized treatment strategies for patients with limited
therapeutic options.

This work has also generated significant follow-on impact, helping secure additional funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while fostering collaborations with industry partners. Together, these partnerships are helping translate scientific discoveries into practical solutions that can improve patient care and advance the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

The impact of MLSC funding has extended well beyond the initial projects it supported. It allowed us to establish research capabilities that have led to new therapeutic discoveries, additional federal funding, and collaborations with academic and industry partners, while advancing better treatments for patients with difficult-to-treat infections.”

Dr. James Kirby

Director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory and Principal Investigator in the Experimental Pathology Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Building on this momentum, the MLSC recently provided additional support through its Frontiers program to advance Dr. Kirby’s work on severe lung infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria. By supporting both groundbreaking research and the infrastructure needed to sustain it, the MLSC is helping expand Massachusetts’ leadership in infectious disease innovation while creating new opportunities to develop more effective treatments for patients facing some of the most difficult-to-treat respiratory infections.