Free Health Festival Kicks Off BIO 2002 in Toronto

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 15, 2002) - On Saturday, June 1, at the Ontario Science Centre, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will host HealthFest 2002, a free, one-day event designed to help the public experience the benefits of biotechnology.

Through interactive exhibits staffed by world-class biotechnology experts, HealthFest 2002 will demonstrate “The Science of Healthy Living,” and give area residents a look at the science that forms the basis for our health.

Toronto-area residents will be able to access the HealthFest 2002 area free-of-charge, and admission to the Toronto Science Centre for children under 12 is also free for the day.

HealthFest 2002 participants currently include the Canadian Medical Discoveries
Fund, BIOTECanada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ag-Canada, the Arthritis Society, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Ontario Rehabilitation Technology Consortium, Anemia Institute for Research and Education, Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, Ontario Special Olympics, Pheromone Sciences Corporation, and the University of Guelph AgriFood and Life Sciences Division.

HealthFest 2002 is sponsored by Aventis Pasteur, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Council for Biotechnology Information and VWR CanLab and is part of BIO 2002, the world’s largest biotechnology conference, which is taking place June 9-12 at the Toronto Convention Centre. For more information on HealthFest 2002 and BIO 2002, visit BIO’s Web site at www.bio.org.

BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 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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