Making the most of a hometown setting in Washington, D.C., for its 10th annual conference, BIO also booked FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge as speakers. Both officials emphasized the connection between science and public policy, and both pledged to increase government support for the sector.

"The biotechnology industry finds itself on the front lines of some of the great challenges of our time," Bush said. "The first challenge is the need to fight terror." The President encouraged biotechnology companies to support Project Bioshield, a program now before Congress that would provide $6 billion over the next 10 years to speed research on and production of vaccines and treatments for smallpox, anthrax, Ebola plague, and other potential agents of bioterrorism.

The President chided European governments for blocking the import of biotech crops, a policy he claims hinders investment in biotechnology in Africa. "For the sake of a continent threatened by famine, I urge the European governments to end their opposition to biotechnology," Bush said.

McClellan outlined new FDA programs to streamline the drug approval process and stimulate innovation, specifically in the area of biotechnology. Under a new quality and risk management program, FDA aims to reduce total review time. McClellan said that a recent drop in biotech drug approvals was a "temporary decline" and that there is currently a solid upswing in the sector.

BIO 2003 attendees agreed, citing indicators that a yearlong slump may be ending: recent approvals of biotech drugs, like Genentech's asthma treatment Xolair, and positive clinical results for drugs in development. Stock prices are rising, and sources agree that venture capital is on the verge of returning.

Investors, however, are now more interested in products than in technology platforms, according to Neil M. Cowen, vice president for product development at Epicyte. The firm, which holds a patent on the production of monoclonal antibodies in plants, is placing more emphasis on its products closest to market than on its new method for identifying human antibodies, Cowen said.

Similarly, Dyax, a developer of phage display technology, is "moving from a technology provider to a product company," said Mark de Souza, senior director of corporate development. Last week, Genzyme acquired a 50% interest in Dyax's DX-88, a potential treatment for hereditary angioedema that is in Phase II clinical trials.

Industrial biotechnology continues to fight for the spotlight in a sector dominated by health care and agriculture. According to Feike Sijbesma, a member of the managing board of DSM and chairman of the European Association for Bioindustries, partnerships between chemical and biotechnology companies will be central to the development of biotech-based materials and fuels.

Government support will also be needed. This, Sijbesma said, is a major sticking point in Europe, where a $6.9 billion spending program for biotechnology was recently allotted almost entirely to medical and agricultural biotechnology. "We need to increase public awareness and public acceptance of industrial biotechnology," he said.

COMEBACK Attendees at BIO 2003 are optimistic that a yearlong slump is over. PHOTO BY RICK MULLIN

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