During remarks at the World Medical Innovation Forum, Governor Maura Healey noted the one-year anniversary of Massachusetts securing the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Investor Catalyst Hub. Numerous Massachusetts-based companies and institutions have secured upwards of more than $300 million from ARPA-H, including more than $70 million in the past two weeks. Recent awardee institutions include Phare Bio, Northeastern University, Wyss Institute at Harvard, and Cellino Biotech.
VentureWell, who serves as the Consortium Management Firm for the Investor Catalyst Hub, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts became indelible partners in September 2023 as ARPA-H announced Massachusetts as the selected host of its Investor Catalyst Hub to support ARPA-H’s mission by fostering collaboration among researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors to accelerate innovative ideas that transform health care.
Today, the Investor Catalyst Hub and Spoke network consists of hundreds of partners, representing non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, small businesses, government, and more. The Investor Catalyst Hub itself is in Cambridge, MA, taking advantage of the area’s strong local ecosystem of higher education and research institutions, investors, and accelerators. The Investor Catalyst Hub includes dozens of partners from throughout the Commonwealth and further solidifies Massachusetts’ role as the nation’s driver for biomedical innovation.
The Hub’s base of operations being in the heart of Kendall Square is no accident. The state’s selection to host the Investor Catalyst Hub demonstrates the federal government’s recognition of Massachusetts as a leading model for health care delivery and life sciences innovation that, through the hub and spoke model, can support the federal agency in its pursuit of moonshot projects to transform health care solutions for residents across the country.
