A Different Take on Boston’s Biotech Future
In a July 15th BostonGlobe / STAT+ article, Johannes Fruehauf—founder of both LabCentral and BioLabs—questioned whether the organizations he built can continue operating in Greater Boston. Johannes is now shifting focus to Europe and Saudi Arabia, and casting doubt on whether our local Boston biotech ecosystem remains strong enough to support emerging life science companies, or even LabCentral itself.
At Labshares, we see it differently.
Yes, it’s a tougher environment to secure federal funding. NIH budget cuts and shifting federal priorities have created significant challenges. But what we’re seeing isn’t a retreat, it’s a reallocation.
Despite the recent challenges, Boston remains the biotech leader. In 2023, Boston-area biotechs raised over $5.2 billion in venture capital, more than any other metro. In 2024, local institutions secured more than $3.1 billion in NIH funding. ARPA-H chose Boston as its Investor Catalyst Hub and has already directed hundreds of millions to local companies. Leading pharma and biotech—including Lilly, Roche, and Novartis—chose Boston for a reason. These aren’t just bright spots—they reflect our region’s unmatched fundamentals: deep research strength, a concentration of top-tier universities and hospitals, and a dense network of biopharma and capital partners.
While Johannes points to rising vacancies and a slowdown in LabCentral applications, Labshares is thriving. Our occupancy remains consistently above 80%, with a diverse mix of early-stage and emerging life science companies using our labs to streamline operations, hit their scientific milestones, and avoid the overhead of a long-term lease.
This is not a collapse in the Boston biotech market. Our ecosystem has always evolved in cycles. And each time, the companies that endure are the ones that operate smarter — conserving capital, building great teams, and staying focused on the science. Shared lab infrastructure is no longer a launchpad, it’s a long-term strategy to build better companies.
Labshares isn’t designed to cycle companies in and out the door. We’re here to give them the flexibility to grow, to stay focused, and to keep moving.
Boston remains the global anchor for biotech, that hasn’t changed — and won’t. The challenge now is to support that ecosystem with operational models that match today’s capital reality: flexible and efficient.
That’s exactly what we’re doing here. If you’re building the next generation of biotech innovation, come see Labshares.
We’re not stepping back from the Greater Boston biotech ecosystem. We’re building here.
