The Trump administration is planning to wind down a health care innovation hub in Cambridge, and the Massachusetts congressional delegation sounded the alarm Friday about disruptions in treatment breakthroughs.
Hours after lawmakers circulated a letter asking for more information on the administration’s “reported decision to issue a stop-work order and notice of intent to terminate and wind down the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Center,” the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) disputed the delegation’s account.
An ARPA-H official called potential closure plans “false,” saying the agency is evaluating vendors but not closing the Cambridge hub.
During the Biden administration, Massachusetts in September 2023 landed an Investor Catalyst Hub through ARPA-H.
The hub’s focus was meant to tackle business and regulatory complexities, as part of ARPA-H’s larger mission of accelerating innovations in health care, Gov. Maura Healey’s office had said. VentureWell, a Hadley-based nonprofit with experience in federal health care programs, was tapped to manage and run the hub.
Healey on Friday urged President Donald Trump to lift a stop-work order.
In a Jan. 30 letter, an ARPA-H official notified VentureWell about the federal government’s intent to terminate the hub agreement “in large part or in full.” The notice’s subject line read, “The Investor Catalyst Hub Consortium Stop Work and Termination.”
“The Government will compensate VW for allowable and properly incurred costs up to the effective termination date, subject to the terms of the Agreement and receipt of appropriate documentation,” ARPA-H Agreements Officer Steven Piggott wrote. “A follow-on notice, with additional information, will be forthcoming no later than 20 February 2026. The Government will request a termination settlement proposal from VW once the scope of the termination is Decided.”
Piggott wrote that work should continue on the Sprint for Women’s Health initiative.
Lawmakers are now seeking clarity on what exactly that notice means.
Most of the Massachusetts congressional delegation asked President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. for an “immediate explanation and justification” for the stop-work order. They wrote it is “deeply concerning to hear reports that ARPA-H has issued a stop-work order and notice of intent to terminate its agreement with the consortium management firm in charge of the Investor Catalyst Hub.”
“At this stage, terminating the Investor Catalyst Hub’s work would be a profound mistake and a blatant waste of taxpayer dollars and federal investment, especially given that the Hub has been fully operational for two years and is already producing clear, tangible returns,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter Friday.
The letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, and U.S. Reps. Lori Trahan, Jake Auchincloss, Seth Moulton, Richard Neal and Stephen Lynch.
“With Congress’ support, the Investor Catalyst Hub was created precisely to ensure that ARPA-H–funded breakthroughs do not stall out in the lab but instead move efficiently toward real-world deployment,” the letter continued. “The Investor Catalyst Hub is already deeply involved in projects focused on improving cancer surgery, deploying hospital-level care to rural areas, and diagnosing and treating lymphatic diseases, all work at risk of being lost should the Hub’s work be terminated.”
The lawmakers also called for a briefing and a contingency plan, which would outline how ARPA-H plans to continue the hub’s work.
Lamenting that Trump is “is threatening to abruptly close the ARPA-H hub in Massachusetts,” Healey urged the president to “immediately reverse this decision.”
Some 59 people at the hub will be directly impacted by the ARPA-H directive, according to Trahan’s office. But that figure does not account for all of the individuals supporting the hub’s projects at companies, hospitals and research organizations.
The hub delivered nearly $300 million to Massachusetts organizations during its first year, according to Trahan’s office.
“Disrupting the Investor Catalyst Hub in this manner could hinder ARPA-H’s ability to effectively advance its innovation mission and delay progress toward critical treatments and cures, raising serious questions about transparency and continuity in the agency’s work,” lawmakers wrote.
Former First Lady Jill Biden in February 2024 visited Cambridge and announced $100 million to support ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health, aimed at closing long-standing research gaps on the topic.
“We are going to give women’s health research and startups the funding they need to grow and to help them bring ideas to market and to women who need them the most,” Biden said.
Healey in 2023 called the hub a “huge win” for Massachusetts, framing it as a new opportunity to spur economic development and strengthen the commonwealth’s leadership in the life sciences sector.
“This hub leverages our state’s world-class life science ecosystem while building a national network of researchers and entrepreneurs to invest in meaningful solutions to the biggest health care challenges,” Healey had said. “We thank the Biden Administration for making this critical funding available and our incredible federal delegation for their strong partnership throughout this process.”
