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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 9, 2026 3 primarily affecting corporate and back-office roles. A company spokes- person said the additional decline was due mostly to attrition, with no further layoffs beyond those announced. The smaller workforce comes as Charter works toward a planned merger with Cox Communications and as the cable industry faces pres- sure from cord-cutting and growing competition from streaming and wireless providers. Charter continues to employ nearly 2,000 people in Connecticut. Following Halda Therapeutics deal, CI banks $41M in venture proceeds Connecticut Innovations said it generated about $41 million in venture returns during the second quarter of its fiscal year, a sharp increase from $7 million in the prior quarter, driven largely by the acquisition of portfolio company Halda Therapeutics by Johnson & Johnson for $3.05 billion. CI had invested $2.5 million in Halda since 2019. Officials said the returns will be recycled into new early-stage investments. Cigna executive: Health care affordability requires broad collaboration The Cigna Group President and COO Brian Evanko said solving the U.S. health care affordability crisis will require coordinated action across the entire system, with no single player able to drive change alone. Speaking at the annual economic summit hosted by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, Evanko cited rising demand for care, the growing burden of chronic disease and high-cost prescription drugs as key pressures. He noted that while most prescriptions are generics, a small share of brand-name drugs accounts for the bulk of spending. Evanko said opportunities to reduce costs include shifting appropriate procedures to outpatient settings and addressing inefficiencies, but added that fragmentation and outdated tech- nology remain major obstacles. Following private equity deal, Barnes Aerospace names new CEO Barnes Aerospace has named Michael Mosley as chief executive officer, appointing an aerospace industry veteran to lead the Bris- tol-based company following its acquisition last year by Apollo Global Management. Thomas Mepham, who had been serving as interim CEO, will transition to executive chair of the board. Mosley most recently was chief operating officer and president of cast- ings and metals at Precision Castparts Corp., and previously held senior leadership roles at Rolls-Royce. Barnes Aerospace provides after- market repair and overhaul services and manufactures highly engineered aeroengine components. In major $12.3B deal, Webster Bank to be acquired by Santander Connecticut's largest local bank is being sold in a roughly $12.3 billion deal. Stamford-based Webster Finan- cial Corp. — which holds about $40.4 billion in Connecticut deposits and operates more than 90 branches in the state — has agreed to be acquired by Spain's Banco Santander. Under the deal, Webster share- holders will receive $48.75 in cash plus 2.0548 Santander American Deposi- tory Shares per share, valuing Webster at about $75.59 a share based on recent trading. The deal, subject to U.S. and European regulatory and share- holder approvals, is expected to close in the second half of 2026. Webster will become a wholly owned Santander subsidiary. CEO John R. Ciulla is expected to lead Santander Bank N.A., with Stamford remaining an important U.S. base. Santander's Connecticut footprint included 13 branches and about $1.9 billion in deposits as of June 30, 2025. Brian Evanko, president and COO of The Cigna Group, speaks with CBIA President and CEO Chris DiPentima at the CBIA Economic Summit. HBJ Photo | Dave Krechevsky BIZ BRIE FS Politics & Policy BioCT pushes tax breaks, policy changes to boost state biotech sector By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com B ioCT, the state's life sciences industry association, is urging lawmakers to adopt a package of tax, infrastructure and innovation policy changes in 2026 aimed at helping biotech companies grow and attract talent. Jodie Gillon, BioCT's president and CEO, outlined the agenda during the group's annual policy breakfast, saying it lays out the organization's "main asks" for the 2026 legislative session, which began Feb. 4. The group is seeking a reduction in the state sales tax on consulting services used by biotech firms. BioCT argues the tax dispropor- tionately affects companies that rely on outside specialists — such as contract researchers, regulatory advisers and clinical trial consul- tants — to conduct research and scale operations. The group also supports expanding research and development tax Jodie Gillon incentives, including increasing the non-incremental R&D credit to 15% and allowing companies to convert the full value of that credit into cash. Lawmakers last year expanded the R&D tax credit exchange rate for bioscience companies from 65% to 90% — a priority for BioCT that is expected to save the industry about $1.8 million annually. This year, BioCT is also pushing to allow biotech companies to sell or transfer net operating losses to other taxpayers, a financing mechanism used in some states that lets unprofit- able startups monetize tax losses by selling them to profitable companies in exchange for cash. Other proposals include a new jobs tax credit for biotech employers, making the state's angel investor tax credit permanent, and expanding sales tax exemptions to cover electricity used in research and development. BioCT is also calling on Connecticut to better match incentives offered by neighboring states. That includes grant-matching funds for companies that receive federal Small Business Innovation Research awards. The group also proposes an emergency state innovation fund and a state-funded working group to track federal policy changes affecting life sciences companies. During a panel on navigating "federal headwinds," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said state investment in life sciences is especially important given what he described as the Trump administra- tion's "greatest assault on science and research scientific progress since maybe the Middle Ages." "Everybody on this call has seen it in real time," he said. "The bottom line here is we need to fight back, and I view this gathering as a kind of call to action." Nancy J. Brown, dean of the Yale School of Medicine, said researchers are experiencing "a sense of whip- lash" because of uncertainty around federal research funding. She noted Yale University ranks "third or fourth" nationally in National Institutes of Health funding. "For every dollar that we bring in, that brings in an additional two and a half dollars to the state economy," Brown said. State investment Daniel O'Keefe, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, also spoke at BioCT's legislative break- fast, highlighting steps Connecticut has recently taken to support the industry. In addition to last year's R&D tax credit change, he cited the state's $100 million Innovation Clusters program, a capital grant initiative that funds shared research, lab and manufacturing infrastructure tied to key industry sectors. The first award, announced in September, pledged $50.5 million in public infrastructure funding to support development of a biotech and quantum technology hub in downtown New Haven. Beyond tax policy, BioCT is seeking increased state investment in trans- portation infrastructure, including Tweed New Haven Airport and Shore Line East rail service. It also supports policies that encourage the use of artificial intelligence in biosciences while protecting patient safety and expanding workforce training, Gillon said.