Progress is never stitched by a single thread.
It’s woven by scientists and founders, funders and partners, patients and advocates–each strengthening the whole. In a challenging year for biotech, LabCentral continued weaving science, business, and people together, building a resilient community where innovation compounds and impact expands.
The past year brought longer funding cycles, policy uncertainty, and a more complex path from discovery to company building. Inside LabCentral, the sense of urgency only intensified. Scientists across our community continued their work with determination, united by the belief that bold ideas–supported by the right people and resources–can become discoveries that change lives.
Our role is clear: to continue building the conditions where breakthroughs take root. In 2025 we:
| Expanded support. Golden Tickets and LabCentral First gave founders access to space and resources to generate critical data and advance toward funding. | Forged new frontiers. The AI BioHub, launched in partnership with C10 Labs and supported by MassTech, enabled teams to explore how artificial intelligence accelerates biological discovery. | Strengthened our ecosystem. The evolution of Biotech Ready furthered opportunities for college students and LabCentral Loop deepened connections with global partners. |
2025 was also a year of transition for LabCentral. In May, co-founder Johannes Fruehauf became Executive Chairman, and I had the honor of becoming President and CEO. Having spent more than a decade building this organization alongside our co-founders and partners, I am deeply grateful for the foundation to stand on and excited to lead LabCentral into its next chapter.
This year reaffirmed why LabCentral exists: to empower breakthroughs together. Each discovery adds another thread, strengthening the fabric of progress.
Warmly,
Maggie O’Toole
President and CEO, LabCentral
Even in a challenging biotech market, investment continued toward companies building at LabCentral. In 2025, resident and alumni companies secured funding to advance programs, grow their teams, and move promising science forward.
Advancing Therapies for Patients
The path from discovery to treatment requires persistence. In 2025, LabCentral resident and alumni companies continued to move new therapies through clinical development while building the intellectual property that fuels long-term innovation. Each new trial launched, patient enrolled, and patent granted represents another step toward translating promising science into real-world impact.
Since opening in 2013, LabCentral resident and alumni companies have launched 171 clinical trials, enrolled 17,421 patients, and received 1,846 patents.
Interventional Clinical Trials by Phases
Excludes observational and expanded access trials.
New Clinical Trial
Focus Areas
The 22 new trials launched in 2025 span a broad range of therapeutic categories, reflecting depth in oncology and spanning complex disease areas.
Fueling Life Science Careers
LabCentral resident and alumni companies attracted, retained, and empowered top talent to tackle biotech’s most complex challenges. Even amid broader industry challenges, job creation within the LabCentral ecosystem remained steady, with ongoing company formation and sustained scientific ambition.
By driving job growth across Massachusetts, the LabCentral community reinforces the Commonwealth’s position as a global center of life sciences innovation.
From Golden Ticket to Global Partnership
The right introductions early on can make all the difference. After launching in 2021 and earning a Novo Nordisk Golden Ticket in 2022, LabCentral resident company Gensaic continued advancing its phage-based platform for tissue-selective gene therapy while growing within the community. In 2025, that early connection came full circle with a strategic collaboration between Gensaic and Novo Nordisk to develop therapies using Gensaic’s proprietary FORGE™ delivery engine—an agreement that could reach up to $354 million in milestones and royalties.
For Gensaic, the partnership marks a major step toward translating its science into new treatments for metabolic and age-related diseases. For LabCentral, it’s a powerful example of what can happen when early support, shared expertise, and the right connections come together around great science.
CEO & Co-Founder, Gensaic
Resident & Alumni Company Spotlights
ARPA-H award | Up to $48M
Kernal Bio won ARPA-H funding to advance its in vivo, mRNA-encoded CAR-T program, supporting KR-402 toward clinical development. The program’s focus on targeted mRNA translation and delivery may lead to safer, more accessible cell-based therapies for hematological cancers and autoimmune disease—potentially expanding therapeutic options for patients who cannot access current, more invasive approaches.
$59M Series B Financing
Mercy closed a $59M Series B to commercialize its blood-based ovarian cancer screening tests, enabling earlier detection and treatment. By advancing sensitive, non-invasive diagnostics, Mercy’s work aims to shift outcomes for patients by catching disease at more treatable stages.
Co-Founder & President, Kernal Bio
Resident Company Modalities in 2025
Scientific Focus Areas at LabCentral
LabCentral continued to support a broad range of early-stage science in 2025, reflecting the scope of innovation underway and the importance of the infrastructure required to support it.
Active resident companies advanced work across conjugates, drug delivery, gene therapy, recombinant proteins, and small-molecule research. Diagnostics and platform companies continued to grow as a share of the community, underscoring the increasingly data-driven nature of early-stage biotech.
LabCentral’s scientific strategy ensures companies, regardless of modality, have the environments, tools, and support needed to execute thoughtfully and responsibly.
Resident companies may span multiple categories
Drug Discovery & Development
Technology Trends at LabCentral
Innovation within the ecosystem continues to expand with a strong balance between small molecule and large molecule companies.
Biological Products
Technology Trends at LabCentral
LabCentral continues to support a broad range of modalities while reflecting shifts in company formation. Gene therapy held steady year over year, while cell therapy and vaccine formation moderated in line with broader market trends.
Looking Ahead: Access, Expansion, and Impact
Access
Through LabCentral First and Biotech Ready programs, we are broadening pathways for emerging founders and next-generation talent, ensuring that breakthrough science is supported by access to funding, mentorship, and hands-on training.
Expansion
Growth at LabCentral is defined not only by physical space, but by expanded collaboration and opportunity. Strategic initiatives such as the AI BioHub and the Loop strengthen our role at the intersection of computation, biology, and entrepreneurship, deepening connections across academia, industry, capital and the globe.
Impact
LabCentral is reinforcing its commitment to advancing breakthrough science by identifying opportunities to spark meaningful partnerships between resident startups and industry sponsors. Leading this effort is former resident and industry leader Kamran Tavangar, who recently joined LabCentral as Head of Science Strategy. In this role, he strengthens scientific support for resident companies while helping connect founders with the expertise and collaborators who can help move their science forward.