Brings industry and DEI experience to the role

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the state’s quasi-governmental organization focused on economic development in the biotechnology sector, got a new leader this month as neurologist and biopharma executive Kirk Taylor took the helm.

Taylor, who took over the organization’s top role Oct. 8, has a history of driving diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at organizations he has led in the past.

“My predecessors have created a world-class organization, focused on economic growth and health equity in the life sciences for Massachusetts,” Taylor said in a statement. “I look forward to working with my team to advance the MLSC, through innovation and cross-sector partnerships with local communities.”

He received a warm welcome from members of the Healey- Driscoll Administration, who appointed him.

“Dr. Taylor brings a wealth of experience to the Life Sciences Center, and I look forward to working together to execute the ambitious vision we have for this key sector of our innovation economy,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement.

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said Taylor’s appointment marks the start of a new chapter for the Life Sciences Center, and Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao said she was confident that he has the passion and leadership to push the state’s life sciences ecosystem to its next frontiers.

Others in the industry also expressed support.

Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council — the statewide trade group for the sector — said she looks forward to collaborating with Taylor in directing the sector’s priorities to keep the state competitive in the industry.

“I appreciate that Governor Healey has selected someone who is keenly aware of our industry and what makes Massachusetts and this ecosystem so special,” she said. “MassBio and the Center have enjoyed a close relationship since its inception, and this public-private partnership has been foundational to growing the industry to its global leadership position in delivering for both patients and the economy.”

Taylor brings almost three decades of experience in the sector, at companies like Pfizer, Biogen and Sanofi-Genzyme. Most recently, he served as chief medical officer at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics, which was working on injecting stem cells into the spine as a potential treatment for ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Taylor takes over from Kenn Turner, who had served as president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center since late 2020. Turner stepped down in July, after several months on leave.

Through his decades in the industry, Taylor has brought a focus on diversity efforts into a field that has long been largely white.

In an interview with the Banner last year, he said this work dated all the way back to his first biopharma role in the 1990s, when he worked at Pfizer and was immediately treated as a resource on understanding how to attract — and keep — staff of color.

Former co-workers pointed to Taylor as an executive who showed up to support DEI efforts, not only when the cameras were rolling, but also when they received little attention or focus.

His appointment comes at a broader moment of transition the industry and for the Life Sciences Center.

As the life sciences industry in the state looks toward a shifting landscape with new developments in other tech fields, like artificial intelligence, expanding and diversifying its workforce remains a priority for organizations in the field.

But legislation that was slated to reauthorize the Massachusetts Life Science Initiative, the 2008 legislation that authorized $1 billion in investments in the sector and jumpstarted MLSC into action, failed to pass out of the State House this summer.

Healey included the reauthorization as part of an economic development bond bill that would reauthorize, for the second time, the Life Sciences Initiative for 10 years with another $1 billion investment. Former Gov. Charlie Baker had reauthorized it for five years at a $623 million price tag in 2018.

But though that bill, the Mass Leads Act, passed through the state House of Representatives in June and the Senate in July, the two chambers couldn’t reconcile a compromise of their versions by the end of the legislative session at the end of July.

At the time, Healey and leadership in both the House and Senate said they are willing to call a special formal session of the legislature to approve the bond bill, though that session has yet to occur.