BIO Announces Venues for Future Annual Conventions

WASHINGTON (June 7, 2004) — The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) announced today that the next five annual international conventions will be held in Philadelphia (2005), Chicago (2006), Boston (2007), San Diego (2008) and Atlanta (2009). 

“Over the next five years, BIO will be returning to several cities key to the biotechnology industry, as well as expanding into the Midwest and Southeast,” said Raymond J. Briscuso, executive director of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) in Washington, D.C.  “We are looking forward to seeing how previous host cities have grown, as well as enhancing biotechnology’s presence in new regions of the country.”

The BIO annual international convention was previously held in Philadelphia in 1996, in Boston in 2000 and San Diego in 2001.  In 1996, a little over 3,000 individuals attended the BIO conference; nearly 20,000 attendees are expected at BIO 2004 in San Francisco.  When the BIO annual international convention was held in Philadelphia, Boston and San Diego, attendance records were made.

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Chicago and Atlanta will be new host cities for the BIO annual international convention, and were chosen for their strong commitment and investments to developing local biotechnology industries.  The Midwest has a strong biotechnology industry in Chicago (home to the Argonne National Labs) and St. Louis, as well as in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Likewise, there is a steadily increasing biotechnology presence in the Southeast, especially in Atlanta – which is where the Centers for Disease Control and the Carter Center are headquartered – and the states of Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

BIO 2004 is the world’s largest biotechnology gathering and will feature 23 tracks of programming, including sessions on policy, finance, business development, science and regulatory affairs.  The convention will also host forums on bioethics, business development and global opportunities; 440,000 square feet of exhibit space; a series of receptions at San Francisco landmarks; 27 state and 29 foreign pavilions; and a BIO TV studio and media center, complete with two press conference rooms.  For complete information and media registration, visit http://www.bio.org/events/2004/.  Reporters are urged to register online as soon as possible. 

BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

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