Mid-year Review: Watertown breaks Q1 & Q2 Fundraising Record, ranks 3rd in MA for biotech according to MassBio
Plus Werewolf Bio finds a buyer
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64 Pleasant Street: Watertown Square Lab & Flex Lease Options
MassBio released their 2026 Industry Report, but before reading on to see how Watertown’s biotech industry has fared over the last year, consider sharing this newsletter with a friend and subscribe to support our work.
Watertown ranks 3rd in MA for VC funding and Biotech Companies in 2026 while employment fell in 2025.
Last week the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), released its annual Industry Snapshot report, providing insights into employment, fundraising, and drug development trends in the biotech industry since August of 2025. Statewide, funding has rebounded from last year’s nadir, with VC funding increasing 25% year over year, 8 IPOs (the combined total of 2024 and 2025), and 11 acquisitions. The Commonwealth’s drug pipeline increased to comprise 17% of drugs in development in the US, the second-most in the nation behind California. On a down-note, Massachusetts did lose 3,600 jobs (3.1%) in 2025, the first time in more than 20 years of MassBio record-keeping.Similarly, lab space vacancy rates increased year over year by 3% from 28% to 31%.
Within this state-wide context, Watertown had a banner year for VC fundraising, setting a record $403 million raised in Q1 and Q2 2026* (see content note) , 20 times the funds raised in Q1/Q2 2025 and $100 million more than the previous record in 2024. Watertown accounted for 12% of all VC funding in MA, behind only Cambridge ($1.6 billion) and Boston ($908 million) in VC funding, and raised about 4x that of 4th place Framingham ($103 million). If Watertown were a state, it would rank 6th in total VC funding, between Texas and Florida, and behind California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Watertown’s life science sector saw a record breaking Q1&Q2 2026 raise.
Similarly, Watertown saw a 19% increase in MassBio member companies (93) in the city from 2025, reflecting the 2025 moves of firms like Lifemine and Kestrel Therapeutics. This number is slightly lower than our count of 115 firms since not all biotechs in Watertown are MassBio members. Watertown again ranked 3rd in the Commonwealth for MassBio membership, behind only Cambridge (429) and Boston (331), and almost double 4th place Waltham, Worcester, and Natick (54 each).
Unfortunately, Watertown did also mirror the state’s job loss trend, losing 356 jobs (17%) from 2024 to 2025, according to Mass. Department of Economic Research data. Employment statistics often lag by a quarter or more, so it will take some time to see how the recent arrivals at the Arsenal on the Charles, 99 Coolidge Ave, and Labshares, the expansion of local firms like Triveni Bio, Corner Therapeutics, and ALS TDI, as well as the departure of Werewolf and Lyra Therapeutics impacts employment in 2026 and 2027.
Watertown’s life science sector mirrored state employment trends and saw a decrease in employment from 2024-2025.
Given all of this leasing activity it is no surprise that Watertown bucked statewide leasing trends, with vacancy rates decreasing 10 % year over year, from 53.8% in Q2 2025 to 44% in Q2 2026, according to research from real estate firm JLL. While this trend is encouraging, and likely will decrease as tenants with Q3 and Q4 lease dates move in, vacancy still remains elevated, with two full lab buildings still completely vacant.
More about MassBio’s Industry Snapshot: read the BBJ’s coverage here
23 Elm Street offers 66,634 SF of cutting -edge, fully furnished spec lab space, engineered to support scientific innovations and empower research with best-in-class facilities.
Beleaguered Werewolf Bio announces Reverse Merger with Ambros Therapeutics
Werewolf Therapeutics, formerly headquartered at Arsenal Yards, announced that they will merge with Ambros Therapeutics (technically Ambros will become a subsidiary of Werewolf), enabling Ambros to go public. The combined firm will retain the Ambros name and will be headquartered in San Diego. The announcement marks the end of the embattled cancer biotech. The company had launched in 2019 with the goal of designing therapeutics that mimic cytokines to stimulate the immune system to target and kill cancer cells. Werewolf went public during the biotech boom in 2021, and moved to the Arsenal in 2022. As reported previously, a dwindling cash runway led Werewolf to lay off its staff earlier this and search for a partner for a merger.
Ambros Therapeutics is a San Diego start-up launched in 2025 by former presidential candidate and current Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The company holds the US rights to the drug neridronate, which is marketed in Italy for the treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 1. The proceeds from the merger, which also include a concurrent $150 million private placement, will be used to fund the phase 3 trial of neridronate for CRPS-1. Ramaswamy pursued a similar strategy at their previous firm ROIvant, which seeks out “overlooked” discontinued drugs from other firms, licenses it, advances the drug through later stage clinical trials, and either brings the drug to market or sells its.
More about Werewolf’s merger: read Fierce Biotech’s coverage here
Quick Hits
People
Acrivon announced Michaela Levin as their Chief Business Officer
Seismic Therapeutic announced Dr. Vishal Patel as their Vice president of Business Development
Media
LabShare CEO Philip Borden was interviewed on the Biotech Startups Podcast.
Remix Therapeutics CEO Peter Smith was interviewed on Biotech TV.
EyePoint President & CEO Jay S. Duker, MD was interviewed on the RetinUp Podcast.
CAMP4 Therapeutics CEO Josh Mandel-Brehm was interviewed on CNBC cures.
That’s all for this week!
* Content Note: As noted in our annual report, MassBio uses Pitchbook as a data provider. Pitchbook’s VC fundraising data often differs from SEC filings, potentially overstating VC raises. For example, Pitchbook includes all $93 million from Nocion’s Series B in the Q1 and Q2 2026 VC calculations, despite the Company’s press release and SEC filings both showing that only $23 million was raised in 2026, after an initial $62 million Series B raised in 2024 (which was also recorded in the 2024 MassBio Industry Snapshot). Despite these divergences, we present the data as is to allow for comparison to data across MassBio’s Industry Reports and Funding Reports.
