BIO Applauds Dr. Lester Crawford’s Nomination As FDA Commissioner

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 14, 2005) -- Jim Greenwood, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) issued the following statement regarding President Bush’s intention to nominate Dr. Lester Crawford to be the next FDA Commissioner:

“The president’s nominee, Dr. Lester Crawford, is an excellent choice to lead the FDA during this critical time. His regulatory experience across the consumer health and safety spectrum, including medicine, agriculture and food safety will serve the agency well.

“Dr. Crawford has done a remarkable job as acting commissioner of the FDA. His credentials and experience make him well suited to lead this critical consumer protection agency. We enthusiastically support Dr. Crawford as FDA Commissioner. This nomination sends the right signal to patients and consumers, that there will be vision and leadership in the agency.

“Because BIO’s member companies are on the cutting edge of developing new pharmaceutical, biological and agricultural products, we depend on an FDA that embraces innovation while guarding the public health.”

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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