The Boston metro area’s life sciences real estate market has reached unprecedented vacancy rates, with 17 million square feet of available lab and office space and a 29.7% overall availability including subleases. New constructions have outpaced immediate demand drastically, fueled by compressed venture capital investments—the slowest half-year since the pandemic boom—and a cooling biotech funding environment. Early-stage firms are downsizing footprints sharply amidst valuation drops, IPO slowdown, and concern over federal funding uncertainties, creating a challenging landscape for the sector’s growth.