An international pharmaceutical company operating in Massachusetts who had recently been named “Manufacturer of the Year” by state lawmakers has announced plans to close its Burlington manufacturing facility in March, taking 81 jobs with it.
Curia Global filed paperwork on Friday with the state under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) to shut down the facility, scheduling a permanent closure for March 10. The WARN Act requires employers in Massachusetts to provide written notice to its employees and the state at least 60 days before a plant shutdown or mass layoff.
The company has not given a reason for the abrupt closure of its Burlington facility and did not respond to Herald inquiries into the shutdown, which comes just three months after Curia Global’s Burlington facility was honored as “Manufacturer of the Year” by the Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus during a high-profile event at Gillette Stadium.
“While our direct clients are pharmaceutical companies, we come to work each day with patients in mind. We are honored to contribute to improving patient lives and are proud to be recognized for our role in Massachusetts’ manufacturing ecosystem,” General Manager and Site Head of Curia Burlington Mari-Kate Alter said in a press release on receiving the award.
The company has a second location in Massachusetts in Hopkinton.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance says the Burlington closure epitomizes a growing problem in the Bay State: an increasingly inhospitable business environment driven by high taxes and regulations.
“The taxes here are high, the climate regulations are pretty extensive and we also have people in positions of power who don’t seem that interested in growing business here. You know, I constantly hear stories of business owners that relocate out of state or they expand elsewhere. They may have a presence here, but they expand elsewhere,” MassFiscal Executive Director Paul Craney told the Herald.
“What it appears is that there’s a lot of states out there that are very hungry for expanding their business, and in Massachusetts we have a legislature that not only doesn’t seem interested in business, but doesn’t even approach these companies to have them expand here. It just seems like it’s never on their radar,” he said.
The Burlington facility specialized in sterile drug manufacturing, including vials and prefilled syringes. It had been part of Curia’s global network since 2010 and the abrupt closure of the facility just three months after receiving the award provides a blow to the state’s life sciences sector.
“This is an exciting time for committed manufacturers like Curia who embody ‘Making It in Massachusetts,’” state Rep. and House Chair of the Manufacturing Caucus Jeffrey Roy said in a press release previewing the Oct. 21 celebration. “Manufacturing remains vital to our economy and future, providing innovation and high-paying jobs for residents across the Commonwealth.”
Headlines on the outmigration of residents and businesses alike from Massachusetts to so-called tax havens like New Hampshire and Florida have plagued the Bay State in recent years, with New Hampshire state lawmakers even coming to the Massachusetts State House to “thank Gov. Maura Healey and Massachusetts Democrats” for “the growing economic divide” between the two states.
“We came to the Massachusetts State House today to thank Governor Healey and the Massachusetts Democrats in office, to thank them for their leadership and driving their policies that have made Massachusetts such a bad state to do business in and New Hampshire such a good state to do business in,” New Hampshire Deputy House Majority Leader and state Rep. Joseph Sweeney (R-Salem) said during the December stunt.
That campaign came just days after another high-profile business – electronics manufacturer SynQor – left Massachusetts for New Hampshire, bringing 250 jobs with it. In January 2025, healthcare and security technology company Anologic Corp. also moved to the Granite State along with 500 jobs.
“This is a pretty big deal because it represents a pretty important industry in Massachusetts,” said Craney. “It always seems like whenever these international companies who have a footprint in Massachusetts they want to pull back and there’s a lot of stories now where companies are moving out of state to places like New Hampshire or Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Florida.”
With headquarters in Albany, NY, the international pharmaceutical manufacturing company runs operations across North America, Europe, and India.
Officials at Curia Global have not responded to a Herald request for comment.
State Rep. Jeffrey Roy declined a phone interview with the Herald.
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