Global Conference Offers Chance to Brag About State

Nearly all available space at BIO was sold this year.

Dozens of representatives from Indiana-based companies and organizations are in San Francisco this week for an event designed to help highlight the biosciences sector on a global stage. The BIO International Convention, which runs through Wednesday and draws some 15,000 participants, is billed as the largest annual gathering of its kind in the world. Indiana University Research & Technology Corp. again has a presence at BIO and Director of Technology Commercialization Dave Wilhite says it offers an opportunity for industry stakeholders throughout Indiana to do what they have traditionally not done well: market themselves.

He tells Inside INdiana Business people outside the state are often surprised by the quality of research and the potential partners in Indiana. More than 20 businesses, educational organizations and industry-related organizations from Indiana are at BIO this year. Wilhite says being proactive has paid off. Last year, the IURTC did something it hadn’t done previously and set meetings ahead of the conference. He says reaching out helped form relationships.

Representatives at the conference with ties to Indiana include:

• AIT Biosciences LLC
• Apex Therapeutics
• Assembly Biosciences
• Barnes & Thornburg LLP
• Bio Analytical Systems Inc.
• CBRE Life Science Group
• Commissioning Agents Inc.
• Cook Pharmica LLC
• D’Hue Law LLC
• Dow AgroSciences LLC
• ELANCO
• Eli Lilly and Co,
• Endocyte Inc.
• Esanex Inc.
• FaegreBakerDaniels
• Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
• Indiana Health Industry Forum
• IU School of Medicine
• Purdue Research Foundation
• Purdue University Biotechnology Institute
• Sentry Biopharma Services Inc.
• University of Notre Dame

You can find out more about the event by clicking here.