Biotech Ads Seek Ears Of President Bush, D.C. Policymakers
The 30-second spot titled "Biotechnology: A Big Word That Means Hope," is based on themes of U.S. entrepreneurship, pioneering technology and the biotech industry's research and development of new medicines to treat illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
It will be broadcast in metropolitan Washington and Crawford, Texas, home of President George W. Bush. Shows featuring the BIO ad will include Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week, ABC and NBC Evening News and Fox, CNN and MSNBC political talks shows.
"This campaign is modest in scope but laser-aimed at opinionmakers in Washington, D.C., and the single most important opinion leader in our nation - President Bush," said BIO President Carl B. Feldbaum.
"Our industry is propelled by pioneering advances such ascompletion of the human DNA sequence. Although biotechnology's main application is in development of new life-saving drugs and vaccines, it also is contributing to dramatic advances in agriculture, industrial manufacturing and environmental management.
"Biotechnology is central to the new economy and the continuedeconomic growth of our nation. We are still a young industry, however, and many Americans are not familiar with the benefits of biotechnology. This ad campaign is designed to alert policymakers to the U.S. industry's world leadership in creating and applying this innovative technology," Feldbaum said.
The BIO advertisement also can be viewed on BIO's Web site(www.bio.org).
BIO represents more than 950 companies, academic institutions and state biotech centers in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.
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