Feeding Americans and the economy

It’s National Agriculture Day—and we have a sneak peek at the Feeding the Economy report being published today (with support from BIO) highlighting the economic impact of America’s food and agriculture sector.

The latest Feeding the Economy report,which will be released today, reveals that America’s food and agriculture sector employs 40,918,957—including “food scientists, grocers and truck-drivers”—and has a $7.02 trillion economic impact.

Commissioned by BIO and 32 other food and agriculture groups, the report sheds light for policymakers on how the food and agriculture sector not only feeds Americans, but also fuels the U.S. economy. 

Beyond providing Americans with nutrition, the sector is responsible for 20% of U.S. economic activity—and 13% of all U.S. employment can be tied to food and agriculture industries.

Biotech innovation plays an important role in feeding the economy—from bringing jobs and economic growth to rural communities, to enhancing the nutrition and resiliency of our food supply through innovations like gene editing and synthetic biology.

Read: How Biotech Can Help Us Meet Our Climate & Ag Policy Goals

Today’s an important reminder of the need for policy that supports continued innovation—here’s more on what to expect from the Biden administration’s ag policy agenda and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s commitment to boosting innovation. 

Sarah Speaks: This economic report illustrates how cutting-edge technologies have enabled our farmers and producers to become global leaders in food production. To maintain this leadership and bolster our economic resilience following COVID-19, the U.S. will need to continue to pursue public policy that promotes science and innovation so we can strengthen our supply chains, increase access to nutritional foods, and combat climate change. – Sarah Gallo, BIO’s Acting Senior Advisor for Agriculture & Environment Policy

Read the full report.

Today, breaking (positive!) news on the COVID-19 antibody treatment developed by Regeneron and Roche—another critically important tool in our toolbox for ending the pandemic.

BIO members Regeneron and Rocheannounced today that their COVID-19 antibody cocktail reduces hospitalizations and deaths by 70% in non-hospitalized patients, reducing the duration of symptoms by as many as four days. 

All doses (8,000 mg, 2,400 mg, 1,200 mg) demonstrated similar efficacy across all endpoints,says Regeneron’s statement, with the 1,200 mg dose reducing hospitalization and death by 70% and the 2,400 mg dose by 71%.

Regeneron will apply for U.S. authorization for the lower, 1,200-mg dose—which means there could be more doses available for more people. Regeneron had planned to produce about 750,000 of the 2,400-milligram doses by June, according to Bloomberg.  

This comes on the heels of similarly good news from BIO members Vir and GSK,who said their monoclonal antibody reduced hospitalization and death by 85% in a phase 3 trial.

And both antibody treatments are promising against emerging coronavirus variants, which the companies will continue to study.

Even as we roll out vaccines, we need to continue to invest in therapeutics—because “the virus is not going away even when most of us have gotten vaccinated,” Dr. Ashish K. Jha of Brown University School of Public Health said during a congressional hearing last week. 

Do you want to know more? BIO has been tracking the progress of these and other COVID-19 therapeutics.

President Biden’s Tuesday: Visiting OSUCCC-James Cancer Hospital Solove Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio, to give a speech celebrating the 11th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and promoting the benefits of the new premium included in the American Rescue Plan.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Jam-packed day. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold hearings on the nomination of Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, for administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on prescription drug pricing amid announcements that Democrats plan to include new legislation on drug pricing in their plans for an expansive $3 trillion infrastructure and jobs package. In the House, hearings will focus on Treasury and the Federal Reserve’s pandemic response, building on the ACA to expand coverage and lower health costs, the maternal health crisis, and wood innovation and sustainable forest products.