BIO 2002: Media Highlights for Monday, June 10
7:30 - 8:15 a.m., North Building, Halls B and C
Opening Breakfast Plenary. Speakers are Tommy Thompson, U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, and Jim Flaherty, Ontario's minister of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation. A post-plenary press conference will be held in Room 203C of the North Building.
Also during the plenary session, five outstanding junior scientists will be selected from 12 finalists for the BioGENEius/Aventis Biotech Challenge awards. The students' winning science-fair projects will be displayed all day, and the students themselves will be available for press after the plenary session.
Various Times, South Building, Room 712
Press Conferences. Leonard Gianessi, senior research associate of the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, will release a 30-crop study on the benefits of biotechnology from 8:45 to 10:30 a.m. BIOCOMM will discuss the capital pool available for biomedical research in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (8:45 - 9:00). Hemolink (10:45 - 11:15 a.m.), 3-M (11:30 - noon), and Vasogen (1 - 1:30 p.m.), MDS (3:30 – 4 p.m.), and Queensland Premier Peter Beattie (4:30 – 5 p.m.) will also hold press conferences.
10:30 a.m. - Noon, South Building, Room 714A
Biotechnology for Developing Countries: An Important Tool in Sustainable Development. Biotechnology offers the tools to boost agricultural production and promote environmentally sustainable industry in developing regions. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, director of the United Nations Human Development Office, leads this discussion.
10:45 - 11 a.m., South Building Exhibit Hall
Exhibit Hall Ribbon Cutting. Canadian officials and representatives of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be on hand to open the doors to more than 800 exhibitors, representing companies and regions around the world. Record representation from national, regional and local economic development teams indicates the competition to develop biotech clusters is intensifying.
Noon - 1:45 p.m., North Building, Halls B and C
Plenary Luncheon. Speakers are Allan Rock, Canada's new minister of industry, and BIO President Carl B. Feldbaum. Rock, Canada's former minister of health, recently launched Canada's Innovation Strategy, in which biotechnology is a key element.
In a speech titled "Biotechnology's Foreign Policy," Feldbaum will outline the industry's responses to international controversies surrounding intellectual property, drug pricing, the spread of agricultural biotechnology and bioprospecting. Feldbaum will use the opportunity to call for the creation of an international orphan drug program to foster research into potential therapies for diseases primarily afflicting those in developing nations. Feldbaum will be available to press briefly in Room 203C after the plenary session.
2 - 3:30 p.m., South Building, Room 705
Biotechnology and "Hot Potatoes." From bioterrorism to cloning, to stem cells and GMO crops, the biotechnology industry has been constantly on the front page. Led by BIO Vice President Dan Eramian, this panel will explore how the biotech industry has responded to these communications challenges. Science and biotechnology journalists from the Washington Post, the ABC News, the Associated Press, and the San Francisco Chronicle will participate.
2 - 3:30 p.m., South Building, Room 713A
Why Canada Is the Up-and-Coming Hotbed of Biotech. V. Peter Harder, deputy minister for Industry Canada, leads a discussion among Canadian biotech and government leaders, including Dr. Alan Bernstein, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Media registration policy: Only credentialed media (with photo ID credentials) from print, broadcast or radio outlets qualify for on-site registration. The deadline for freelance journalists has passed and none will be registered on-site. For details, including registration hours, visit www.bio.org.
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (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.