By Angus McQuilken, vice president for communications, Mass. Life Sciences Center
The final day of BIO International 2010 convention in Chicago was yesterday and it was our last chance (for this year!) to showcase Massachusetts to the largest annual gathering of international leaders in biotechnology.
Massachusetts had another good year at BIO, with dozens of business development meetings, several successful pavilion events and a pavilion reception on Tuesday evening that was not to be missed. The companies, academic institutions and agencies exhibiting in the Massachusetts pavilion report steady traffic, and many useful conversations to follow up on over the weeks to come.
"This was our first time at BIO and we didn’t know what to expect," said Warner Jones, director of business development for MUSA Technology, an exhibitor in the Massachusetts Pavilion. "We had a lot of exposure to both domestic and international opportunities and being part of the Massachusetts pavilion was a good environment for us."
After BIO 2009 in Atlanta last year, it was just a matter of months before France-based CYTOO, one of the international companies that met with Gov. Deval Patrick at the show, made their decision to locate their U.S. subsidiary in Framingham, Mass. We anticipate a solid return on investment for this year’s show and plan to follow up aggressively on all of the leads that our presence at the show has generated.
The show was also an eye-opening experience for Massachusetts attendees regarding the future of biotechnology:
"BIO has challenged my imagination regarding personalized medicine," said Keeley Wray, technology marketing specialist in the Technology and Innovation Development Office at Children’s Hospital Boston. "We’ve been daydreaming for the past decade regarding how the advances in detection of molecular markers can ultimately influence human health, and now after sitting through the sessions and hearing about all of the innovations soon to come to market, I recognize that my health will be dramatically impacted by the thinkers at this conference."
Until next year!