Big-name speakers coming to biotech conference

Political heavyweights will square off next month over the issue of health care reform when the world’s largest biotechnology convention comes to Atlanta.

The debate will feature Karl Rove, a former chief adviser for President George W. Bush; Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee; Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader; and Tom Daschle, also a former Senate Majority Leader.

“I think it will be a lively discussion,” said Charles Craig, president of Georgia Bio, the state’s industry trade association and local host of the BIO International Convention.

The gathering will occur May 18-21 at the Georgia World Congress Center. The debate is open only to convention participants and the media.

The convention, expected to draw up to 20,000 biotech leaders and 2,000 firms from around the world, is expected to raise Georgia’s profile in the industry, and potentially create more business opportunities.

The convention also is expected to create a $30 million economic boost for metro Atlanta, Craig said.

Elton John will deliver the keynote address. The singer and part-time Atlanta resident will speak about how biotechnology has affected prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, and about future challenges related to the disease.

Biotechnology — the use of biology to create products for medicine, the environment and the food supply — is among the fastest growing industries in Georgia, contributing, along with related industries, some 62,000 jobs and $17 billion to the state.

Biotechnology is expanding as global food supplies shrink, diseases mutate, and global warming and high oil prices highlight the need for alternative energy.

State leaders have named biotech and life sciences among the industries they want to recruit to the state.

Several Georgia universities have opened or are planning to open major biotech research centers, including a center for biomedical and health sciences at the University of Georgia and biotech and nanotechnology centers at Georgia Tech.