Biotechnology Industry Organization

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is the largest trade organization in the world that represents the biotechnology industry. On January 4, 2016 the Biotechnology Industry Organization changed its name to be the Biotechnology Innovation Organization to better reflect member organizations' breakthroughs.

BIO holds a trade meeting each year in the United States, which are essential for the business development and partnering activities that are required in the biotechnology sector, in which it is expensive to develop products, timelines to develop products are long, and regulatory risks are high. In 2013 the conference was held in Chicago and was attended by 13,594 delegates from 47 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and 62 countries.

It also holds regional partnering meetings, for example in China,India, and Europe.

In 2013 it spent $1.98 million on lobbying in the United States. Issues included the amending the Internal Revenue Code to provide an exception from the passive loss rules for investments in high-technology research small business pass-through entities, to include vaccines against seasonal influenza within the definition of taxable vaccines, and to extend, expand, and improve the qualifying therapeutic discovery project program that first became law in 2010.

Examples of its public lobbying efforts, include support for development of biofuels such as those produced from algae,genetically modified crops, strong intellectual property rights, and for a more efficient and predictable regulatory process for new food and drug products.

In June 2013 BIO partnered with the Coalition of Small Business Innovators to lobby the U.S. government to modernize the U.S. tax code "to recognize and promote small business innovation as fundamental to the long-term growth of the U.S. economy".

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