What will make a biopharma renaissance?
A
message from CURE President Paul Pescatello
 As mid-summer comes upon us, policy and politics at both the state and federal level are in flux. In Connecticut, the carefully balanced budget thought to be in place is now uncertain, state employee unions having rejected the contract terms negotiated by their leadership.
While it is likely that, through a series of union governance maneuvers, Governor Malloy’s original offer will be approved by the rank and file, and his budget plan reinstated, precisely how state revenue and spending will be balanced is an open question. As is the case for other business interests, CURE remains vigilant to safeguard against state revenue shortfalls being made up with increases in corporate taxes or reductions in tax credits.
At the federal level, the national debt limit is front and center. In many ways that debate is a measure of how seemingly unbridgeable so many policy debates seem to be. The recently concluded Biotechnology Industry Organization convention (BIO '11) in Washington, D.C. was a showcase of spectacular new technology but the mood of optimism was tempered by uncertainty over the fate of an array of policies – patent reform, SBIR funding eligibility, and R&D tax credit reauthorization to name only a few.
The biopharma industry has weathered much over the past few years but seems poised to take advantage of major research advances — and the abundance of new information about the mechanisms of disease. On display at BIO '11 were many new companies that meld biomedical therapies with personalized genomic information — a combination that dramatically heightens both safety and efficacy.
Yet the uncertainties of healthcare policy loom over the industry, making it extremely difficult for investors to be confident that their return on biopharma investments will be worth the huge risks involved. The quality of biopharma scientific research and the acumen and dexterity of its business leaders has never been higher. Our public officials need only to create a stable and common-sense regulatory environment to trigger a biopharma renaissance.
Paul R. Pescatello is President and CEO of CURE.
ppescatello@curenet.org
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