BIO-Europe 2006 – 12th Annual International Partnering Conference

Dr. Jürgen Rüttgers, the Minister President of the State of Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW), will be addressing the conference on his plans to develop the region as a biotech hub. Dr. Rüttgers is arguably Germany’s leading political figure-head for the life science sector. In the mid 1990s, as Germany’s Minister of Science and Technology, he was responsible for devising and executing Germany’s BioRegio programme, which laid the foundations for Germany’s thriving biotech sector today.

Additionally, Jim Greenwood, President of BIO will be announcing a new coalition to support development of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US body that approves new drugs. “We have come together as a broad and diverse coalition to call for a renewed public commitment for the FDA. The agency needs increased support in order to continue its mission as it faces a revolutionary new era of scientific innovation and advancement. Renewed support also will help enable the agency to continue its historic global leadership as the “gold standard’ for regulatory science and consumer protection.

Düsseldorf’s Lord Mayor, Joachim Erwin, will address the conference highlighting that he sees BIO-Europe’s choice of location as a vote of confidence in the city as a life science location. On Sunday 5th November, the North Rhine-Westphalia state capital Düsseldorf will be hosting a welcome reception for all participants of the conference.

Also making an announcement at the conference, Peer Schatz and his team at Qiagen, will be holding a press briefing dedicated to “Setting Standards in Biomedical Tissue Management” .This will address the current difficulties seen in lack of standardization in the preparation of biological samples through collection, stabilisation, and homogenisation of a sample; its identification, tracking and storage; and the purification of analytes such as DNA, RNA, and protein.

BIO-Europe, and its new sister conference BIO-Europe Spring, has a dedicated press office to disseminate news, stories, and conference themes directly to journalists in advance of the conference and as they develop and evolve at the conference. This year there will be more media briefings and opportunities for one-on-one meetings.

At last year's BIO-Europe in Dresden, Germany, the number of delegates topped 1450, from more than 850 companies, representing 34 countries. There were 167 biotech company presentations, a host of international exhibitors, and 5124 scheduled one-on-one partnering meetings.

BIO-Europe 2006 is co-hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and EBD Group in partnership with European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE).

Media registration at BIO-Europe 2006 is complimentary.

Please visit the conference website at www.ebdgroup.com/bioeurope for detailed information on this year's event and online registration.

Alternatively, if you are interested in attending the conference, or require further information, please contact:

English media enquiries
Adam RH Michael
Northbank Communications Ltd
a.michael@northbankcommunications.com
+44 20 3008 7550 – office
+44 777 588 1813 – mobile
German media enquiries
Robert Mayer
Northbank Communications Ltd r.mayer@northbankcommunications.com
+49 89 5205 9212 – office
+49 171 9499411 – mobile
Registration enquiries
Florian Schoenhammer
EBD Group
fshoenhammer@ebdgroup.com
Phone: +49 89 51 39 98 03
Fax: +49 89 54 54 63 64