2010 BIO International Convention Closes in Chicago With Record Number of Partnering Meetings
“The 2010 BIO International Convention was a great success, bringing together international leaders from industry, government and academia who are working to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges,” said Jim Greenwood, president and CEO of BIO. “The robust activity at our Business Forum and the general sense of optimism and energy prevelant at our Convention underscored the continuing strength, vitality and promise of biotech. I personally want to thank our many partners in Illinois, the Midwest region and throughout the entire industry that help make this event such an enormous success this year and in years past."
The full Convention program featured more than 125 breakout sessions across 17 tracks, addressing the latest scientific, policy and business opportunities and challenges facing the biotechnology industry today. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, former Vice President Al Gore and BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood gave insightful keynote addresses. Other high-level speakers included Margaret Hamburg, MD, FDA Commissioner; Roger Beachy, Chief Scientist for the US Department of Agriculture and Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United State Patent and Trademark Office.
Seven U.S. governors attended this year's event: Pat Quinn (IL), Jennifer Granholm (MI), Jay Nixon (MO), Jim Doyle (WI) , Steve Beshear (KY), Martin O’Malley (MD), David Heineman (NE). In addition, more than 80 high-level public officials attending, including:
- The Honourable Robert Ghiz, Premier of Prince Edward Island, Canada
- The Honourable Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec, Canada
- The Honourable Anne-Marie Idrac, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, France
- Hon. Datuk Seri Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia
- The Honourable Miguel Sebastian, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce, Spain
- The Honourable Jin-Fu Chang, Minister of State, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan
- Sir Michael Rawlins, Chairman, National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE), United Kingdom
- [5/12 Update: Premier Stelmach of Alberta and The Canadian Minister of Industry, Tony Clement, attended Convention as well]
The BIO Business Forum, a cornerstone of the Convention that provides an opportunity for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic research institutions and investors from around the world to schedule one-on-one meetings and discuss potential business opportunities, hosted a record-number 17,100 partnering meetings between 2,125 companies and 190 company presentations. In addition, the 180,000 sq. ft. BIO Exhibition featured more than 1,700 exhibitors.
"We noticed a significant change in the high-level quality of attendees visiting the India Pavilion," said Balasubramaniam Iyer, a practicing physician and medical director for Bigtec Labs in Bangalore, India. "Throughout the event, we had productive, relevant discussions at the Pavilion and have noticed that the level of high-quality attendees seems to be increasing from year to year."
The BIO International Convention is the world’s largest annual event for the biotechnology industry. The 2010 Convention ran from Monday, May 3 through Thursday, May 6 at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Ill. Next year’s event will be held June 27-30, 2011 at the Washington, DC Convention Center.
"We are very excited that the BIO International Convention will be coming to Washington, DC in 2011," said Dr. Lawrence Mahan of the Maryland Biotechnology Center. "We have received strong commitments from the state's biotechnology industry toward making the 2011 event a huge success. Led by Governor Martin O'Malley, the state has shown consistently strong support for the biotech industry, which will be a good foundation for the event."
The BIO International Convention helps support BIO programs and initiatives. BIO works throughout the year to create a policy environment that enables the industry to continue to fulfill its vision of bettering the world through biotechnology innovation. For more information on the global event for biotechnology, including program and housing information, please visit http://convention.bio.org/.
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-Upcoming BIO Events
BIO International Convention
May 3-6, 2010
Chicago, IL
McCormick Place Convention Center
2010 BIO Human Resources Conference
May 4-7, 2010
Chicago, IL
World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing
June 27-30, 2010
Washington, DC
BIO India
September 21 - 22, 2010
Hyderabad, India
BIO’s Livestock Biotechnology Summit
September 28-30, 2010,
Sioux Falls, SD
About BIO
BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.
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