Over 40 Western Australian biotechnology companies will attend the Biotechnology Industry Organization conference in Boston this year, the state's largest ever contingent at the event.
Over 40 Western Australian biotechnology companies will attend the Biotechnology Industry Organization conference in Boston this year, the state's largest ever contingent at the event.
Over 40 Western Australian biotechnology companies will attend the Biotechnology Industry Organization conference in Boston this year, the state's largest ever contingent at the event.
The full text of an announcement from Industry Minister Francis Logan is pasted below
Industry and Enterprise Minister Francis Logan is to lead a delegation of more than 40 Western Australian companies to BIO 2007, the world's biggest biotechnology event.
It will be the largest ever WA contingent at the event, which is held in Boston in the United States and runs from May 6-9.
Mr Logan said the companies would use BIO 2007 to showcase the strengths and achievements of the State's biotechnology research and development sector.
"The biotechnology industry relies on strategic linkages all over the world to ensure their ideas are turned into reality," he said.
"BIO 2007 is the ideal platform for WA to demonstrate our capabilities to the world, as well as establish connections for future investment opportunities.
"The biotechnology sector sometimes requires 10 years or more to develop new products, so the right partners are critical to the success of this exciting sector."
The Minister said the Carpenter Government was working to diversify the economy beyond the current resources boom and biotechnology was at the forefront of this vision.
"WA is already home to world-class universities, research institutes and internationally recognised researchers, including Nobel Prize winners and Australians of the Year," he said.
"For the first time, two prominent WA researchers have been chosen from more than 800 applications to chair sessions at BIO 2007.
"Professor Steve Halls, the director of environment at Murdoch University, will be chairing a session called 'Biodiesel - a fuel for the future: facts and fiction'.
"And Professor Lyle Palmer, the director of laboratory for genetic epidemiology at the WA Institute for Medical Research, will be chairing a session called 'Biobanks: building capacity, building understanding, building business'."
BIO 2007 is expected to attract more than 20,000 visitors and 1,800 exhibitors from around the world. The Department of Industry and Resources has provided WA delegates with $750 towards the cost of the conference.