Today, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) released the following statement on President Obama’s “Precision Medicine Initiative”.

The following can be attributed to Jim Greenwood, BIO’s President and CEO, who attended today’s conference at the White House:

“We applaud President Obama’s announcement of a new 'Precision Medicine Initiative' intended to better embrace the potential of precision medicine, which would advance a new approach to healthcare by tailoring therapies for patients to maximize clinical benefit while reducing the risk of side effects.

“Precision medicine holds great promise for many health care interventions to occur much earlier and with increased accuracy. We are pleased that the Precision Medicine initiative and the Chronic Disease Initiative longitudinal study proposed by BIO hold promise of working very well together.

“We look forward to working with the Administration and the National Institutes of Health – in addition to the Congress – to develop public policies that will support the implementation of precision medicine.

“Together, we are embarking on a new era that will transform health care through the use of next generation modern medicines and diagnostics that promise to save lives and reduce and eliminate suffering.”

For more information on BIO and the biotechnology industry, please visit www.bio.org.

About BIO

BIO is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world. BIOtechNOW is BIO's blog chronicling “innovations transforming our world” and the BIO Newsletter is the organization’s bi-weekly email newsletter. Subscribe to the BIO Newsletter.

Upcoming BIO Events

BIO CEO & Investor ConferenceFebruary 9-10, 2015New York City, NY

BIO-Europe SpringMarch 9-11, 2015Paris, France

BIO Asia International ConferenceMarch 24-25, 2015Tokyo, Japan

BioEquity EuropeMay 19-20, 2015Vienna, Austria

BIO International ConventionJune 15-18, 2015Philadelphia, PA

Biotechnology Industry OrganizationTracy Cooley, APR202-312-9274Web: www.bio.orgBlog: www.biotech-now.orgTwitter: @IAmBiotech