BIO and BIO’s Board-level Workforce Development, Diversity and Inclusion (WDDI) Committee were disappointed that the planners of this year’s “Party at BIO – Not Associated with BIO” (PABNAB) included inappropriate entertainment. That decision does not reflect the values of this industry, BIO or the event’s sponsors. At a time when our industry and BIO are determined to come together to embrace equality, confront unconscious bias, and condemn sexist attitudes, this event – which is independent of BIO – showed lack of awareness and sensitivity.
12:06 PM PT — Jackson’s family released a statement on the young actor’s death, saying in part … “The Odell family has lost our beloved son and brother, Jackson Odell. He will always be a shining light and a brilliant, loving and talented soul.…
“We believe that because of the work that’s been done and the work that will be done moving forward, anything is possible.” – Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker at BIO
What a history-making week in Boston! A whopping 18,289 U.S. and international attendees – the most in the last 10 years – joined us in the epicenter of the biotechnology industry for four days of inspiring programming, 46, 916 partnering meetings (setting a new Guinness World Record for “The Largest Business Partnering Event”!) and entertainment (thanks Diana Ross!).
In celebration of our 25th anniversary, we reflected on the incredible progress of the last 25 years and the innovations making history today and still to come. We were also joined throughout the week by trailblazers of our past and future, including:
Ashanthi De Silva, the first patient in the world to receive gene therapy, who joined BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood on stage – more than 25 years since her brave procedure – to receive the first-ever BIO History Award.
15 student winners of the 2018 BioGENEius Challenge – the premier competition for high school students from across the globe – who were recognized for their outstanding research and innovation in biotechnology. This year, finalists came from across the U.S., Canada and Germany.
Celebrities including award-winning journalist Robin Roberts and actor, director and advocate Rob Reiner, who shared stories of triumph over cancer and addiction
BIO 2018 was the launching pad for several exciting new ventures, partnerships and awards.
U.S. Health and Human Services announced a new initiative authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act that will accelerate cutting-edge health technology aimed at health security challenges like early detection of illness and sepsis.
Executives from Johnson & Johnson and Boston University announced a significant new alliance to drive forward a vision of a world without lung cancer.
BIO awarded the first-ever Henri A. Termeer Biotechnology Visionary Award – created in honor of the late Genzyme CEO – to Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Desmond-Hellmann also joined Dr. Penny Heaton, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (MRI) for a fireside chat to discuss the launch of the Gates MRI and its potential to advance the development of essential products to help the world’s poorest populations.
This year’s educational programming was also more robust and diverse than ever before with more than 180 educational sessions, including brand new tracks on genome editing, opioids and corporate best practices.
It was a week full of insightful debates and conversation, new partnerships forged, and a path paved for more history-making breakthroughs to come. We thank all of our attendees, sponsors, media, and the city of Boston for a truly engaging Convention.We are already looking forward to next year: BIO 2019 in Philadelphia from June 3-6. See you there!
On Tuesday, June 5, 2018, BIO hosted its Food, Health and Environmental Future Day at the 2018 BIO International Convention.
Kicking off the half-day of panel discussions was USDA’s Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach, who discussed, among other topics, his agency’s focus to “put together a regulatory framework for today and tomorrow.”
Greg Ibach, USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
Under Secretary Ibach provided candid insights into USDA’s rulemaking process for the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard and asked industry to “engage and embrace” in the rulemaking process (due to end on July 3, 2018) to ensure a regulatory system that works across the food and agriculture industry, from small startups to large corporations.
Trace Sheehan, writer and producer, Food Evolution
Ibach’s remarks were followed by a keynote address from Trace Sheehan, writer and producer of the film Food Evolution. Sheehan focused on the need for honest, constructive dialogue on either side of the GMO and food innovation debates to drive public acceptance of new technologies.
Sheehan’s focus on constructive dialogue set the stage perfectly for the panel to follow, which included food companies and retailers discussing how they are managing the wave of innovation taking place in the industry and driving consumer acceptance.
Kevin Diehl, Director of Global Regulatory Seed Platform at Corteva Agriscience, noted many of the innovations being developed in the industry are to solve-real world challenges and drive sustainability, such as disease-resistant plants. All the panelists acknowledged, however, that while solutions to real-world challenges will help in driving consumer acceptance of new food technologies, the gap is significant. Even so, Jason Garbell, Senior Director for New Business and Alliance Development at Novozymes, said that food companies “can’t think about innovation as a turn off.” Tammy Lee, CEO and President of Recombinetics, added “science is the key to solving sustainability challenges.”
Following the two-part dialogue, the program shifted focus to the food and agriculture innovation taking place in the convention’s backyard: the New England region. Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts provided opening remarks before four panelists from the region spoke about their use of biotechnology.
Joanna Lidback, Dairy Farmer, Farm at Wheeler Mountain
Joanna Lidback, a dairy farmer from Vermont, spoke passionately about the role biotechnology has on her family farm, allowing her to produce products more efficiently and sustain her business. Lidback noted that biotechnology is not just for large food companies and that the innovations in food and agriculture allow family farms like hers to thrive.
Following the “Biotech in our Backyard” panel, the program shifted back to a national perspective with investment experts sharing their insights on the funding ecosystem in agricultural technology.
In the discussion, Roger Wyse with Spruce Capital Partners underscored Kevin Diehl’s point in the food innovation dialogue, noting many agtech investors are looking to fund companies that address major challenges.
Finally, to close Food, Health and Environmental Future Day, Jerry Flint, Vice President, Global Initiatives and Sustainability at Corteva Agriscience, hosted a fireside chat alongside Governor Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota and Governor Ricardo Rossello of Puerto Rico. Both governors spoke about their region’s investment in biotechnology and the promise it brings to the future of their economies.
“If you’re not paying attention to agriculture, you’re not paying attention to the economy,” said Governor Daugaard.
Right to Left: Governor Dennis Daugaard, South Dakota; Governor Ricardo Rossello, Puerto Rico; Jerry Flint, Corteva Agriscience
Governor Rossello added that while Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, his region sees opportunity to further expand the economy through biotechnology. Governor Rossello noted that for every dollar his government invests in biotechnology, $5.36 comes back to the economy, representing a significant return on investment.
BIO’s 2018 Food, Health and Environmental Future Day included:
Greg Ibach, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, USDA
Phil Miller, Vice President for Global and Regulatory and Government Affairs, Monsanto
Trace Sheehan, Writer and Producer, Food Evolution
When Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, she took her mother’s advice to “make your mess your message,” and connect with her audience as she was treated for and recovered from her disease. For those without the resources and platform that she had, “I needed to be their voice and show them the journey,” Roberts recalled during the Tuesday morning keynote session at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s international convention.
Roberts, an award-winning broadcast journalist and author, and a survivor of breast cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), was interviewed in a wide-ranging discussion by BIO president and CEO James Greenwood.
Roberts repeatedly credited her family and her faith for her personal and professional successes. Her father was a Tuskegee Airman – one of the storied group of World War II African-American fighter pilots – and her mother was appointed to the Mississippi state board of education, later becoming its chairwoman. The family focus on education was “less about the ‘three Rs,’” she quipped, and more about the three Ds – “discipline, determination, and d’Lord.”
Roberts also colorfully described her early career – it included a stint as a country music DJ on AM radio and a gig as a weekend sports anchor paying $5.50 per hour – and later highlights including interviewing President Barack Obama on the subject of marriage equality, and her emotional coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during which she set out for the Gulf Coast when the storm’s great damage became evident. “I couldn’t go on the air until I found my family,” she said (and when she did, her mother ordered her back to her television crew).
– BIO Intl Convention (@BIOConvention) June 5, 2018
Living proof
Before his conversation with Roberts, Greenwood told the story of Ashanthi De Silva, who was born in 1986 with two broken copies of a gene that makes a protein called ADA. This meant she had severe combined immune deficiency, and “by age four, she was slipping away,” he said. But De Silva’s doctor knew of a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health who were pioneers in applying genetic engineering to human health. She became first patient in the world to receive a gene therapy. Twenty-eight years later Ashanthi remains on enzyme replacement therapy but leads a full and normal life.“This is the power of biotechnology” says Greenwood.
As he advocated for strong policies to support the continued development of the biotechnology industry Greenwood dotted the line from De Silva’s treatment through to more recent breakthroughs, including the approval in 2017 of the first gene therapies in the US – Novartis’ cell therapy for a kind of pediatric leukemia, Kymriah, Gilead Sciences’ cell therapy for aggressive lymphoma, and Spark Therapeutics gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases, which can prevent children with a particular genetic mutation from going blind.
Taking the stage, De Silva received the morning’s loudest ovation as a living embodiment of biotech innovation. She urged patients and patients’ families to “look at my story and see anything is possible.” With patients now at the forefront, telling their own stories, she said, “please have hope, be your own advocate, and please, never give up.”
BioGENEiuses
They keynote also featured the 2018 International BioGENEius Challenge finalists. “Some day you’re going to be working for these kids,” joked Greenwood. One of those high schoolers was awarded the grand prize. Ontario, Canada eleventh grader Sajeev Kohli’s project “recruiting endogenous proteins for site-specific transport: a novel workflow for gene carrier design” earned him the $7,500 award, as judged by a panel of industry and academic experts.
