More than 100 leaders in the Bio, Pharma, and Health 
Industries gathered at Delaware Technical and Community College in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday, June 25 to hear from Governor Jack Markell, Former U.S. House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, and Rich Fante, President of AstraZeneca US and Regional VP North America, as they announced the findings of a report from the 
Council for 
American Medical Innovation about the future of Medical Innovation.
Click Here to download a copy of the full report.
Here's some excerpts from Media Coverage of the event:
The United States must invest more aggressively and stress development of more scientists if it is to retain its position as the worldwide leader in medical innovation, with the burden falling on government and community leaders to foster growth, former U.S. House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt said Friday.
...
"It is critical to our national and economic interests that we own medical innovation in the future as much as we owned mechanical innovation in the past," Markell said. "Big and serious companies are moving medical companies overseas. ... We want these companies to stay here and grow here."
...
Released at the conference was a 62-page report that focused on problems in the current U.S. 
medical technology system and suggested improvements. The report was essentially a compendium of interviews with 72 experts in the biomedical and capital investment industry, as well as advocacy groups leaders.
Four major themes from the report emerged:
•More public/private partnerships are need to bring research to market.
•Government needs to provide better research and development tax credits and adopt favorable tax policies to keep manufacturing jobs stateside.
•The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory process must be overhauled so new drugs and devices can be evaluated sooner.
•The bioscience curriculum in public schools must be significantly enhanced.
Click Here to read the article from the News Journal.
At the event, CAMI and We Work for Health unveiled a public policy agenda based on the recent Battelle study, "Gone Tomorrow? A Call to Promote Medical Innovation, Create Jobs, and Find Cures in America." The study, commissioned by CAMI, reflects direct feedback of leaders representing patients, academia, private industry, research, labor, venture capital, government, and economic development.
Medical innovation generates high-quality jobs, and if properly fostered, could generate many more across the state. Despite tough economic times, the biomedical industry grew 14.4 percent in the last jobs cycle, compared to 4.3 percent for all other industries. In Delaware, biopharmaceutical and related fields directly employ 11,500 workers in 247 companies according to a report published in July 2009 by the Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research at University of Delaware. Medical innovation holds the promise of finding more cures for more diseases at a faster rate and Delaware companies are leading the way in this important research and development.
Click Here to read the full article from the Business Ledger.
Despite tough economic times the Biomedical industry grew over 14-percent in the last jobs cycle. No state has been better at this than Delaware. Bio-pharmaceutical and related fields alone have directly employed nearly 12,000 workers in 247 companies.
Click Here for the full report from WILM NewsRadio
Click Here for Video of WDEL's Al Mascitti interviewing former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt
The following are videos from the various speakers at the event:
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), National 
Venture Capital Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Delaware BioScience Association, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and Delaware HIV Consortium organized the Delaware BioScience Business Roundtable held at Christiana Care's John H. Ammon Medical Education Center on August 12.
This event brought together leaders from the bioscience, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries as well as top government officials.
The News Journal ran a great front page story on the event, here's an excerpt:
The life sciences already have a strong footprint in Delaware, thanks in part to the presence of industry giants such as chemical and biotech firm DuPont Co., drug maker AstraZeneca and Agilent. A study earlier this year by the University of Delaware's Center for Applied Demography & Survey Research found that the biopharmaceutical and related sectors employed nearly 12,000 people in Delaware in 2008.
Several speakers touted Delaware's advantages in the field of life sciences, including its strong sense of community, easy access to government officials and high concentration of Ph.D.s.
"We have a lot to build on," Gov. Jack Markell said in the event's keynote speech.
The complete article and photos from the event can be seen by clicking here.
In addition to the newspaper coverage, some of us were offering live twitter updates - here's a sample:
Click Here to access the entire feed.
We were fortunate enough to catch up with some of the participants and get their insights on the BioScience Industry in Delaware, the U.S., and the world.
Gov. Jack Markell
Patrick Kelly, Vice President for State Government Relations and Alliance Development for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) based in Washington, DC
Catherine Bonuccelli, Global Product Vice President for Symbicort, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP