Summer interns at New Haven biotech Rallybio were doing much more than busywork last summer.
As Rallybio prepared for its Wall Street debut, college-age interns took key roles in getting the startup ready for its IPO by taking on tasks in accounting, planning, quality, manufacturing and regulatory compliance.
“They got to see how we wear multiple hats in a growing company,” said Lisa Sinclair, head of corporate & commercial strategies at Rallybio.
Sinclair spoke of the importance of internships in growing the region’s bioscience workforce at an event Thursday as part of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce’s internship and career fair at the Long Wharf Maritime Center. More than 500 people registered for the chamber event and the venue was bustling.
The event announced the start of recruiting for a new life-science-specific program that will offer 100 paid jobs this summer to students attending Connecticut colleges and universities. The program is currently posting jobs and taking applications at its website, LifeSciSprints.com.
More than 25 bioscience companies are taking part in the new program, Sinclair said, with more new companies coming forward regularly to offer paid positions. New Haven-area firms taking part include Alexion, Artizan Biosciences, Arvinas, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Halda Therapeutics, 4Catalyzer and Trevi Therapeutics.
Many of the jobs listed are posted as both in-person and remote opportunities.
Speaking over the lively crowd of job- and internship-seekers, biotech executives and state officials stressed the key role played by paid internships in the workforce.
More than 70% of internships in the region lead to full-time job offers and 75 percent of those offers are accepted, said Niall Dammando, chief of staff at the state Office of Workforce Strategy.
Bolstering the Rallybio’s 30-person workforce, interns got real-world experience with direct career benefits last summer, Sinclair said. Rallybio went public with its $93 million IPO in August.
“You really have to work as a team to deliver on a major goal,” Sinclair said of the Rallybio interns’ “cross-functional teamwork” experience. “The goal for us was to achieve an IPO and they really helped make it happen,” Sinclair said.
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.
