LIFE SCIENCES
Biotech training program launches in Dorchester
With the global “bio” convention set to unfold in Boston in about 10 days, a local trade group announced this week that it is launching a nonprofit to link underrepresented populations and individuals with life sciences training pathways and employer connections. MassBio said the nonprofit Bioversity will operate a 4,000-square-foot workforce training center in Dorchester at the Southline Boston development on the site of the old Boston Globe headquarters being redeveloped by Beacon Capital. The trade group’s 2022 workforce report showed demand for life sciences talent was outpacing supply, which MassBio said helped lead to the new nonprofit. MassBio said the nonprofit’s initial curriculum was developed in partnership with the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and will train high school graduates or GED holders for entry-level positions in scientific operations roles such as facilities management, lab operations, supply chain and procurement, and biomanufacturing. The programs will be offered at no cost and will provide a stipend to offset lost work hours and feature completion timelines of between eight and 12 weeks. Bioversity plans to graduate 100 students in its first year and 170 annually within its first five years. — STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
REAL ESTATE
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Poitras family gives 185 acres in Holliston to MassAudubon
Philanthropists James and Patricia Poitras have gifted 185 acres in Holliston to nature preservation nonprofit the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which will use the land to create the Broad Hill Wildlife Sanctuary. The property includes large fields on Highland Street in Holliston — a MetroWest suburb outside Hopkinton and Ashland — along with sections of forest and a stream. Mass Audubon plans to prepare the property for public use by next spring, and eventually connect it to the nearby Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary. “We deeply appreciate being entrusted as stewards of this land and look forward to eventually welcoming the public to enjoy its beauty and diverse habitats,” said Mass Audubon president David O’Neill in a statement. The Poitras family has long donated land and conservation restrictions to both Mass Audubon and the New England Forestry Foundation, and 2013 provided an endowment to support Mass Audubon’s stewardship of the land, according to a press release. “As a family, we all enjoyed the benefits and value of open space and never had an inclination to develop any of the property into housing. It is our intent to leave this land for future generations in a relatively undeveloped state and to be managed under good agricultural and forestry practices,” Jim Poitras said in a statement. In 2007, the Poitrases established what’s now the Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research to study mental illness. ― CATHERINE CARLOCK
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HIGH TECH
Mass Tech Collaborative seeking companies that want CHIPS funding
The quasi-public Massachusetts Technology Collaborative is on the hunt for Massachusetts tech companies that are interested in expanding with the help from the federal CHIPS Act, a $50 billion-plus initiative that Congress passed last year. Toward that end, MassTech and the Healey administration established an online portal to help companies request state subsidies with the goal of providing some kind of matching funds as they apply for CHIPS funds. MassTech and the administration are hoping the portal will streamline this process for companies in the semiconductor industry to access various state funding programs and documentation showing state support, federal prerequisites for applying for CHIPS expansion funding. So far, no corporate expansions that could be eligible for CHIPS funding have been announced. — JON CHESTO
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FINANCE
Average long-term mortgage rate at highest level since March
The average long-term US mortgage rate rose this week to its highest level since mid March, driving up borrowing costs for prospective homebuyers facing a housing market that’s constrained by a dearth of homes for sale. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 6.57 percent from 6.39 percent last week. A year ago it was 5.10 percent. High rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for homebuyers, limiting how much buyers can afford in a market that remains unaffordable to many Americans after years of soaring home prices and limited housing inventory. The average rate on a 30-year home loan has risen two weeks in a row, echoing moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for US Treasurys and what the Fed does with interest rates also influence rates on home loans. ― ASSOCIATED PRESS
GLOBAL ECONOMY
Germany officially enters into its first recession since COVID
Germany suffered its first recession since the start of pandemic, extinguishing hopes that Europe’s top economy could escape such a fate after the war in Ukraine sent energy prices soaring. First-quarter output shrank 0.3 percent from the previous three months following a 0.5 percent drop between October and December, the statistics office said Thursday. The result is a setback for Germany, which despite escaping the bleakest scenarios feared in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion has nevertheless succumbed to a recession that Chancellor Olaf Scholz appeared to rule out in January. ― BLOOMBERG NEWS
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LIFE SCIENCES
Boston Scientific abandons plans to take majority stake in Korean firm
Boston Scientific is scrapping its $230 million plan to buy a majority stake in M.I. Tech, a Korean company that builds surgical tools, the company said. Instead, it will purchase a minority stake of around 10 percent. That purchase will go through later this year. “Our agreement to purchase the majority stake of M.I.Tech Co., Ltd, from Synergy Innovation Co., Ltd, required global regulatory approvals that we were not able to obtain in some countries,” said Boston Scientific spokesperson Kate Haranis. “While we are disappointed that we will not complete this purchase as initially constructed, we are committed to investing in innovative, patient-centric technologies that solve unmet clinical needs and to continuing to grow our relationship with M.I.Tech.” The Federal Trade Commission took credit for cracking down on the deal on Wednesday. “I am pleased that Boston Scientific and M.I. Tech have abandoned their proposed transaction in response to investigations by FTC staff and our overseas enforcement partners,” FTC competition director Holly Vedova said in a statement. The medical device giant had agreed to purchase around 64 percent of the company last June. Boston Scientific, based in Marlborough, focuses on minimally invasive medical devices. ― LIZZY LAWRENCE, STAT NEWS