BayBio held its first ever Public Officials Reception at hosting sponsor Boehringer Ingelheim’s Fremont manufacturing facility on Thursday, September 27 – drawing a crowd of more than 100 attendees from BayBio member companies and state, local, and federal government. With the 2012 elections less than six weeks away, the event provided candidates and office holders alike the opportunity to meet with the researchers, scientists, venture capitalists, and other executives from Northern California life sciences companies.
Prior to the evening reception, Ralf Otto – BI’s site manager for the Fremont facility – provided a tour of their manufacturing operation to more than fifteen elected officials, explaining the process for developing and manufacturing biologics, as well as their differences from traditional small molecule pharmaceutical products. Otto also touched on unique aspects of the life sciences industry, including its heavy reliance on early stage venture capital investment and the highly expensive and delicate nature of its manufacturing processes.
The reception that followed the tour was attended by dozens of state Assemblymembers, Senators, and candidates for those offices; as well as local city council members, county supervisors, mayors, and their staff; and Congressional staff.
“The Public Officials Reception provides BayBio members with an opportunity to network with policy makers from all levels of government,” noted Ritchard Engelhardt, BayBio’s vice president of government affairs. “With more challenges arising at the local level, it is imperative that BayBio continue to provide opportunities for our members to engage decision makers.”
BayBio would like to extend a special thank you to the sponsors of the Public Officials Reception this year, including hosting sponsor Boehringer Ingelheim, and presenting sponsors Genentech and Onyx Pharmaceuticals. Additionally, BayBio would like to credit our close friends in Southern California – BIOCOM – who have hosted a similar event for the past decade in San Diego, and provided best practices that facilitated the success of our event.
