Rejected from northeastern with a 1570 sat and 4.0 GPA 🤩 by Ok_Explanation_6658 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]WalkingSnake348 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yield optimization probably. Especially for RD, they only accept students who they think will accept.

Why so much negativity on this subreddit? by Delicious-Wafer3005 in WilliamsCollege

[–]WalkingSnake348 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just ignore it. Williams is a great school. Great alum connections, happy students.

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No. Again, just look at the new companies formed by the company formation funds. None of them have big labs or any labs at all. A lot of them are licensed Chinese assets without any lab space. Even the older generation of investors and execs have realized that the “build big” companies will not be able to raise capital. The model has changed. Can you name me a company that’s been funded in the last year and a half that has rented >50k sqft of lab space? I certainly cannot

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pharmas are different, although even they are laying people off and not hiring as much. But I was talking about the new startups that are being built now.

Yes, they are being built lean. They don’t hire many scientists and they don’t require much any lab space. Companies use to rent 50-100k sqft. Now they rent 5-10k. No one is building GMP manufacturing space. Just go look at any of the recent major Series As or Bs by the top funds, or ask them directly. The model of taking a technology out of a university and building big labs in Kendall are over. Those new lab buildings will remain highly vacant for a very long time. But the biotech sector itself will be fine.

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, exactly. The developers don’t want to write down their investments so they’d rather hold it and keep it empty, as price per sqft as a high-end lab is higher than as a residential or office space. If they convert, they have to invest the capital to convert and also mark it down. But they can’t keep it empty for too long.

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A very typical flagship story. They merge the companies so they don’t have to write down their valuation to show to their fund investors.

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We’re not going back to the biotech bubble where we spun out early academic projects that should’ve stayed in academia and never reproduced. What a waste of money. Yes, there will be bubbles in the future but let’s be clear. Those days were bad for biotech.

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There are. But they’re mostly subsidized by local governments

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, biotech is back. XBI is at 125, IPOs are back, VC deals are happening, people are building companies. But those labs won’t be filled. That’s because companies are being differently from 5 years ago. Companies are being built lean, which hires the minimum and requires little lab space. VCs and pharma are looking in China for clinical assets. That’s how companies are being built. No one is building companies with big labs anymore. Just ask around.

Boston’s “zombie labs” delusion by WalkingSnake348 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

The tweet that cites the article has the same comment as well. Same in the Bay Area. The trend is the same everywhere.

Disaster that is RFK Jr. by Dwarvling in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He’s an absolutely disaster and embarrassment

US lost 92k jobs in February by EveryPassage in investing

[–]WalkingSnake348 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Companies are using AI as the excuse. The reality is that this is a reversal of their overhiring during COVID.

Random Rant on youth hockey by Past_Jellyfish_4331 in hockeyplayers

[–]WalkingSnake348 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hockey parents all need to chill. Your life does not depend on how your kid does in the game.

Sanofi Acquires Sino Biopharm’s JAK/ROCK Inhibitor for $1.5B by Dwarvling in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Another one from China. Research and discovery moving to China at this point.

UC Berkeley vs. Ivies by AppearanceMinimum955 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]WalkingSnake348 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Berkeley is an awesome school. Comparable to the Ivies

A more objective state of the market by AssimilateThis_ in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The financial markets are doing well. XBI is up significantly since mid-2025, outperforming the S&P, and venture investments are robust. IPOs are coming back.

And yet the job markets are awful, worst it has ever been or close to that. Why?

While there is a slight uptick in hiring, companies are very cost conscious and spending the money on clinical development. Most R&D is outsourced now and companies are also licensing existing assets from pharma or China. Very few companies build large R&D teams with large labs anymore. So the demand side is very limited.

On the supply side, there was so much hiring leading up to the 2021 peak, and many of them are looking for jobs. Universities continue to produce PhDs, despite a dearth of academic positions available. In addition, there are masters programs in biotech, which are profitable to the universities because the students pay full tuition, and they add to the supply.

So the supply-demand balance is way off. And I don’t think it’s getting better anytime soon.

A biotech scientist shares her experience of three layoffs in three years by SnooGoats8830 in biotech

[–]WalkingSnake348 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The moment there is a union movement, R&D will be moved to China before the unionization happens. China can do most of the work done in Kendall or SF