BIO 2012: Boston, It's a Wrap!

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The BIO 2012 International Convention, which was held June 17-21 in Boston, Massachusetts, may have ended, but its impact will continue long after the last person makes their way home. While impossible to touch on every aspect of the massive show, which had a final tally of 16,500 attendees comprised of industry executives, politicians and scientists from more than 60 countries, some highlights from the show bear recounting. It was definitely a more upbeat crowd than last year's somewhat somber gathering in Washington D.C.

The biannual 2012 Battelle/BIO State Bioscience Industry Development Report was released at the show, and reflected just how valuable the biotech industry has become to virtually every state in the union. The 149-page industry tome offers some impressive statistics regarding the industry's financial impact on economic health.

It goes on to reveal that during the 2001 to 2010 period, the U.S. bioscience industry added jobs, despite losses in both the overall U.S. total private sector industry employment and other leading knowledge-based industries. There was an increase of more than 96,000 jobs in the bioscience sector since 2001.

Despite or perhaps in spite of the fact the entire global economy is in an uproar, bioscience industry development continues to gather attention as a way out of the economic rabbit hole. In April 2012, the U.S. government released the National Bioeconomy Blueprint, noting that bioscience industries are "a large and rapidly growing segment of the world economy that provide substantial public benefit."

The Batelle/BIO report went on to state: "The message is clear--a strong bioscience industry base offers the United States of America, as well as each of the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, a high-value economic driver. It stands out in its creation of high-quality jobs, the breadth of markets it serves, and its research and development intensity." An excellent example of how this all comes together is what has been accomplished with the human genome project in the U.S. This $10.4 billion investment in basic sciences during the 1993 to 2010 period drove $796 billion in economic impact, and created 3.8 million job-years of employment over this period.

A primary reason for the resiliency of the bioscience industry is the diverse set of markets it serves. These markets span: biomedical drugs; diagnostics and devices; agricultural products from animal health to seeds and crop protection; and bio-based industrial products such as enzymes for industry chemical processes and bio-remediation, bio-fuels, and bio-plastics.

Other highlights from BIO2012 included expanded news on the recent selection of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as the BIO 2012 Governor of the Year. Received in recognition of his leadership and support of the biosciences industry, Governor Christie was staunch in supporting the Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program, the doubling of the R&D Tax Credit, and naming BioNJ to run the Life Sciences Talent Network.

As mentioned last week, the usual gaggle of bio-protestors was smaller compared to previous years. And the ones who garnered the most attention in Boston were those seeking swift FDA approval for a breast cancer treatment drug. The drug, known as T-DM1, is a combination of the approved drug Herceptin, made by Swiss drug maker Roche's Genentech unit in California, combined with a cell-killing agent made by ImmunoGen Incorporated (NASDAQ:IMGN) (Waltham, Massachusetts). The drug candidate is indicated for patients with HER2+ breast cancer, which is one of the deadliest forms. There are currently three active T-DM1 Phase 3 trials, which have been delivering positive results. Hence, the protestors anger over the delay in FDA approval for the drug, which many believe could be saving lives.

A new series of opinion surveys' (responses from 169 biotech executives, 800 general voters, and 1,402 attendees of the BIO convention) results were released during BIO 2012 -- all conducted by the bipartisan pairing of Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates. The surveys revealed a number of interesting findings, including:

• More than three quarters of American voters (85 percent)--and nearly all biotechnology industry leaders (90%)--are optimistic that science and technology will find cures to help patients suffering from serious diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, HIV/AIDS and diabetes.
• More than half of biotech industry leaders (58%) say federal government regulation has had a negative impact on the industry.
• A majority of American voters (56%) believe the government should support biotechnology innovation, either through tax policies designed to encourage private investment or through direct investment in biotech.

And perhaps one of the more disturbing findings to U.S. officials was the following:

• More than half (52%) of the biotech industry leaders surveyed reported being approached by a foreign government or foreign business development organization to move their company's operations overseas.

For 2013, BIO is headed back to Chicago, Illinois. It is scheduled for April 22-25 at McCormick Place Convention Center.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.