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Central MA Life Sciences Report 33 has allowed MustangBio to build out its operations in cell and gene therapy right on site, with a new wing bringing the company to four clean rooms in its labs. That type of space is advantageous even to large corporations like AbbVie, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Chicago with significant operations in Worcester. Known for its flagship product Humira, the drug alone earned Abbvie $21.2 billion in 2022. AbbVie's operations in Worcester cen- ter the discovery phase in the process of developing biotherapeutics and include manufacturing under the same roof. The ability to finance that is to the advantage of the corporation and to the scientists at all stages of research, said William Blaine Stine, senior director of bio- therapeutics and discovery research at AbbVie. The large size of AbbVie means more resources, and for researchers, a greater ability to focus on that work. "We get to spend every hour of every day thinking about the science," Stine said. At AbbVie, one thread across research projects involves seeking out B-cells secreting specific antibodies. New technologies and machines are allowing AbbVie's scientists to work at rates that were unimaginable even a few years ago. In a matter of years, said Stine, scientists have gone from manually using pipettes to having the technology to test in 14,000 nanopen chambers simultaneous- ly. Being at a large company like AbbVie means cost is less of a limiting factor for researchers, said Stine. This technology is being applied across research areas, and has shortened the timeline of a test from months to 24 hours, allowing for nearly infinitely more testing, a necessity in scientific research where there is a long road between dis- covery and development. "A lot that we are working on might not make it there, but we are the perpet- ual optimists," said Stine. In the same neighborhood as Mustang- Bio, Abbvie regularly collaborates with UMass Chan's scientists, overlapping the corporate and academic spheres to its advantage. That, coupled with the ability for grant and startup funding to go much further than in Boston, makes for a win- ning combination. "Worcester is so well situated right now," said Stine. The advantages of AbbVie's Worces- ter location are growing and with that a wider talent pool is enticed, he said. Still, looking among the local talent pool and helping workers rise in the ranks is a goal. P H O T O / W A T E R S C O R P. Waters Corp. is actively developing a pipeline for early science careers. This is the company's Immerse Cambridge facility. Continued on page 34 Continued from page 31