BP Joins BIO

In a recent press release, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), announced the new membership of BP (British Petroleum), becoming the first fully integrated energy company to join BIO.




President of BIO, former Republican Pennsylvania Congressman, Jim Greenwood, stated: "BP joins a growing list of forward-looking companies in BIO's Industrial and Environmental Section, all of whom recognize the key role industrial biotechnology will play in transforming how we produce fuels and consumer products in teh 21st century."

BIO was founded in 1993 through the merger of two Washington-based biotechnology trade organizations - the Industrial Biotechnology Association (IBA), which represently mostly larger companies before Congress and federal regulatory agencies, and the Association of Biotechnology Companies (ABC), which represented emerging enterprises and academic institutions.

According to its mission statement, BIO aims to be "the champion of biotechnology and the advocate for its member organizations - both large and small." Representing over 1100 biotechnology companies, centres, and other organizations, BIO is a strong lobbying group. BIO advocates strong intellectual property rights and patent protection, and is an accredited observer of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) attending discussions on various issues, including meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources and Intellectual Property, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (GRTKF).

A full list of BIO members is available from BIO's website.