Biotech Depends on Policies that Promote Innovation

BIO will continue to engage with leaders in Washington to ensure that policies support an economic environment that encourages innovation. For instance, a balanced pathway to biosimilars will give biotech investors greater confidence in taking the financial risks of funding the research of biotech startups.

BIO will continue to meet with the administration and other officials to help them recognize that agricultural biotechnology is integral to the goal of enhancing global food and energy security because it enables sustainability and productivity in crop production, animal husbandry and forestry. BIO seeks to ensure that this is reflected in the federal regulatory process governing biotechnology-derived products.

In the industrial section, BIO will advocate for tax credits that promote early-stage research in biofuels and biochemicals by rewarding innovation and first commercialization. BIO will also advocate expanding grant programs for both biofuels and chemicals, and a tax credit that incentivizes adoption of bio-based products and that gives parity to algae-based biofuels and products.

Supportive policies can create the right environment to help sustain biotechnology researchers and their investors, so that they can continue to translate scientific discovery into useful products. Millions of people are waiting, some for a new treatment or a hoped-for cure, others for tools to enable economically and nutritionally sustainable food production, and nearly everyone for a more livable environment. Biotechnology provides the best chance we have to end the waiting and fulfill the promise of modern biomedical innovation.

References

1) Strickland, D., ed. 2007. Guide to Biotechnology 2007. Washington, D.C.: Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

2) International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA). 2008. “Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2008.” ISAAA Briefs 39-2008, www.isaaa.org

3) Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. 2008. “2008 Report: Medicines in Development: Biotechnology.” Washington, DC: PhRMA.

4) DiMasi, J.,  and H. Grabowski. 2007. “The cost of biopharmaceutical R&D: Is biotech different?” Managerial and Decision Economics 28: 469–479.

5) Riese, Jens, analyst, McKinsey & Co. “Biotechnology Industry Organization: Journalist Roundtable to Discuss the Implications of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.” Unpublished transcript, December 20, 2007.

6) Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). Unpublished data analysis.