Section 6: Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund
Section 6. (a) There shall be established and placed within the center a fund to be known as the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund, hereinafter in this section referred to as the fund, to be held by the center separate and apart from its other funds, to finance the activities of the center. The fund shall be credited any appropriations, bond proceeds or other monies authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited thereto, such additional funds as are subject to the direction and control of the center, any pension funds, federal grants or loans, royalties or private investment capital which may properly be applied in furtherance of the objectives of the fund, any proceeds from the sale of qualified investments secured or held by the fund, any fees and charges imposed relative to the making of qualified investments as defined by the center, secured or held by the fund and any other monies which may be available to the center for the purposes of the fund from any other source or sources. Any revenues, deposits, receipts, or funds received through the receipt of royalties, interest, dividends, or the sale of equity instruments shall be deposited in the fund, and shall be available to the center for the purposes described in this section, without further appropriation. All available moneys in the fund that are unexpended at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the subsequent fiscal year.
(b) The center shall invest and reinvest the fund and the income thereof only as follows: (1) making qualified investments pursuant to subsection (c); (2) defraying the ordinary and necessary expenses of administration and operation associated with the center; provided, however, that said administrative and operational expenses shall not exceed 15 per cent of the maximum amount authorized to be expended from the fund in a fiscal year; (3) investing any funds not required for immediate disbursement in the purchase of such securities as may be lawful investments for fiduciaries in the commonwealth; (4) paying binding obligations associated with such qualified investments which shall be secured by the fund as the same become payable; and (5) paying principal or interest on qualified investments secured by the fund or paying any redemption premium required to be paid when such qualified investments shall be redeemed prior to maturity; provided, however, that monies in the fund shall not be withdrawn at any time in such an amount as would reduce the amount of the fund to less than the minimum requirement thereof established by the board, except for the purpose of paying binding obligations associated with qualified investments which shall be secured by the fund as the same become payable.
(c) The fund shall be held and applied by the center, subject to the approval of the board, to make qualified investments, grants, research and other funding and loans designed to advance the following public purposes for the life sciences in the commonwealth: (1) to stimulate increased financing for the expansion of research and development by leveraging private financing for highly productive state-of-the-art research and development facilities, equipment and instrumentation and by providing financing related thereto including, but not limited to, financing for the construction or expansion of such new facilities; (2) to make targeted investments, including research funding, proof of concept funding and funding for the development of devices, drugs or therapeutics and to promote manufacturing activities for new or existing advanced technologies and life sciences research; (3) to make matching grants to colleges, universities, independent research institutions, nonprofit entities, public instrumentalities, companies and other entities in connection with support from the federal government, industry and other grant-funding sources related to the expansion of research and development and to increase and strengthen economic development, employment opportunities and commercial and industrial sectors in the field of life sciences; (4) to provide bridge financing to colleges, universities, independent research institutions, nonprofit entities, public instrumentalities, companies and other entities for the receipt of grants as described in clause (3) awarded or to be awarded by the federal government, industry or other sources; (5) to provide fellowships, co-ops, high school internships, for which additional consideration shall be given to minority students at schools where at least 80 per cent of the student population is eligible for free or reduced lunch, college internships, for which additional consideration shall be given to minority students enrolled full-time or part-time at a community college, loans and grants; (6) to provide workforce training grants to prepare individuals for life sciences careers; (7) to provide funding for development, coordination and marketing of higher education programs; (8) to make qualified grants to certified life sciences companies for site remediation, preparation and ancillary infrastructure improvement projects; and (9) to otherwise further the public purposes set forth herein; provided further, that the center shall file an annual report, not later than December 1, with the house and senate committees on ways and means detailing the following: (i) the total funds expended on high school internships; (ii) the total funds expended on college internships; (iii) the number of students participating in the internship programs from each high school, school district, college and university in the commonwealth; (iv) the percentage of high school internships awarded to minority students attending schools where at least 80 per cent of the student population is eligible for free or reduced lunch; (v) the percentage of college internships awarded to minority students enrolled full-time or part-time at a community college; (vi) the racial and ethnic composition of the high school and college internship programs; and (vii) an analysis of the impact of the college internship program on the ability of its participants to enter the full-time job market in the life science industries after graduation.
(d) Proceeds of the fund may be used by the center to fund life sciences initiatives including: (1) international trade initiatives; (2) qualified grants to graduate level and doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows for living expenses from the Dr. Judah Folkman Higher Education Grant Fund established by section 8; (3) equity investments from the Dr. Craig C. Mello Small Business Equity Investment Fund established by section 7; (4) joint academic and industrial research and development and commercial business exchanges between the commonwealth and Israel, in collaboration with the Massachusetts international trade council; (5) the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center, established by section 12 of chapter 40G to fund activities that facilitate the transfer of technology from the commonwealth's research institutions to the commonwealth's life science industries, for productive use by such industries and to make targeted investments in proof of concept funding for emerging technologies; (6) the Massachusetts Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics Grant Fund, established by section 2MMM of chapter 29; or (7) a program to promote the research and development of plant-made pharmaceuticals and industrial products through field trials, in collaboration with the department of agricultural resources.
(e) The center shall make no such qualified investment pursuant to clause (1) of subsection (b) unless: (1) said investment has been approved by a majority vote of the board; (2) the recipient is a certified life sciences company pursuant to section 5 or a project or initiative listed in subsection (d); (3) the center finds, to the extent possible, that a definite benefit to the commonwealth's economy may reasonably be expected from said qualified investment; provided, further, that in evaluating a request or application for funding, the center shall consider the following: (i) the appropriateness of the project; (ii) whether the project has significant potential to expand employment; (iii) the project's potential to enhance technological advancements; (iv) the project's potential to lead to a breakthrough medical treatment for a particular disease or medical condition; (v) the project's potential for leveraging additional funding or attracting resources to the commonwealth; (vi) the project's potential to promote manufacturing in the commonwealth; and (vii) evidence of potential royalty income and contractual means to recapture such income for the purposes of this chapter, as the center considers appropriate; (4) to the extent said investment is a capital investment made pursuant to clause (8) of subsection (c), the investment has been approved by the secretary of the executive office of administration and finance upon request of the center; provided, however, that said request shall be submitted to the secretary in writing and shall, include but not be limited to: (i) a description of the project or program to be funded; (ii) the economic benefits to the commonwealth which can reasonably be expected from said project or program; (iii) a copy of the proposed contract or other document executing the transaction between the center and the recipient of the funds; (iv) a description of the contractual or other legal remedies available to the center upon non-performance of the contract or other document executing the transaction by the recipient including, but not limited to, any provisions for restitution or reimbursement of the funds granted, loaned or otherwise invested in or with the recipient; and (v) any other information as the secretary may determine; and (5) said qualified investment conforms with the rules approved by the board.
Said rules shall set the terms and conditions for investments which shall constitute qualified investments including, but not limited to, loans, guarantees, loan insurance or reinsurance, equity investments, grants awarded pursuant to clause (3) of subsection (c), other financing or credit enhancing devices, as established by the center directly or on its own behalf or in conjunction with other public instrumentalities, or private institutions or the federal government. Said rules shall provide that qualified investments made pursuant to clauses (1) and (2) of said subsection (c) shall involve a transaction with the participation of at least 1 at-risk private party.
Said rules shall establish the terms, procedures, standards and conditions which the center shall employ to identify qualified applications, process applications, make investment determinations, safeguard the fund, advance the objective of increasing employment opportunities, oversee the progress of qualified investments and secure the participation of other public instrumentalities, private institutions or the federal government in such qualified investments. Said rules shall provide for negotiated intellectual property agreements between the center and a qualified investment recipient which shall include the terms and conditions by which the fund's support may be reduced or withdrawn.
(f) The center may solicit investments by private institutions or investors in the activities of the fund and may reach agreements with such private institutions or investors regarding the terms of any such investments including, but not limited to, the rights of such investors to participate in the income or appropriation of the fund. To further the objective of securing investments by private institutions or investors in the activities of the fund pursuant to the preceding sentence, the center may develop a proposal creating a separate investment entity which shall permit the commingling of the fund's resources with the maximum participation by such private institutions or investors in a manner consistent with the public purpose of the fund and under the terms and conditions established to protect and preserve the assets of the fund.
(g) Copies of the approved rules, and any modifications, shall be submitted to the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate, who shall forward the same to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies.
(h) Qualified investment transactions made by the center pursuant to this section shall not, except as specified in this chapter, be subject to chapter 175, or any successor thereto, and shall be payable solely from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Investment Fund established by this section and shall not constitute a debt or pledge of the full faith and credit of the commonwealth, the center or any subdivision of the commonwealth.
(i) The center shall not make expenditure from or commitment of the assets of the fund including, but not limited to, the making of qualified investments secured by the fund, if following the making of said qualified investment, the amount of the fund shall be less than the minimum requirement established by the board.