Good Day BIO: Veterans Day and regenerative farming

We’re honoring America’s veterans and thinking about how biotech can support them, especially the growing population of women vets. Also, a report says the uptake of regenerative farming practices needs to triple to address food sustainability and climate change. (682 words, 3 minutes, 24 seconds)

How biotech can support women veterans

Veterans Day is a time to “think about how we can work together and think about ways to give back to those who have served,” said John Crowley, CEO of Amicus Therapeutics and U.S. Navy veteran last year—and today, we’re thinking in particular about women veterans and how we can address their needs.

Women are the fastest-growing veterans group—totaling 2 million today. Women comprised 4% of veterans in 2020 and are expected to reach 18% by 2040.

We need to address their immediate and long-term needs,said experts during BIO’s Patient Advocacy Coffee Chat earlier this week. The discussion featured patient advocates—all women, and many veterans—from groups including the National Military Family Association, Service Women’s Action Network, HealthyWomen, Disabled American Veterans, and Paralyzed Veterans of America.

“Communication is key,” said Julie Howell, Associate Legislative Director of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), who served in the U.S. Army from 2000 to 2005, joining at 17. It’s “critical and vital” to support partnerships and ensure “everyone is talking to one another.”

Biotech can learn from veterans’ “notion of service and sacrifice,” said Crowley last year, discussing his journey from three active-duty tours to a career in biotech. “It’s what we do every day in biotechnology to support people living with disease and to extend and enhance their lives in different ways.” 

The big picture: “That bigger sense of mission, of purpose, is very clear to us in the military and it’s equally clear in biotechnology,” he continued. 

Read more about this week’s chat.

More Health Care News:

Bio.News Exclusive: To ensure access for all, healthcare payment models need innovation
“When government and industry partner together to understand the needs of every player, they can balance their budgets, ensure continued healthcare innovation, and ultimately make certain that patients get the access and treatment they need to live their lives well.” 

Biogen: Biogen Names Christopher Viehbacher President and Chief Executive Officer
“Chris is the rare pharma executive who has a keen understanding of the complexities involved in running a multibillion-dollar global pharma business as well as a deep appreciation for the value of innovation,” said Stelios Papadopoulos, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of Biogen.

Adoption of regenerative farming must ‘triple,’ say top food companies

Leading global food and farming businesses say the shift to regenerative farming is too slow in the face of climate change. Here’s what we can do about it.

The report: The Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) released an action plan on how to scale regenerative farming, which can cut emissions while improving soil health and biodiversity.

The key finding: Regenerative farming practices (like cover crops and low-till or no-till farming) allow us to grow more crops more sustainably, but adoption needs to TRIPLE to reach 40% of global cropland by 2030, which is required to reduce emissions and warming.

Why it matters: “Global food security is under threat and climate change is impacting an ever-growing number of communities around the world. To tackle these challenges at the same time, we need to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and resilient global food system,” said Werner Baumann, CEO of BIO member Bayer. “We can only achieve this if we as an industry collectively step up our efforts to adopt regenerative farming practices and drive sustainable innovation across the entire food value chain.”

The report outlines five things we can do to speed it up:

1. Agree on common metrics for environmental outcomes.
2. Build farmers’ income from environmental outcomes.
3. Create mechanisms to share the cost of farmers’ transitions.
4. Ensure government policy rewards farmers for transition.
5. Source differently to share cost across value chains.

SMI has been busy during COP27—releasing a guide on how to accelerate the uptake of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), too, and bringing together world leaders and CEOs at the event.

President Biden’s Friday: In Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for COP27, where he’s expected to tell the world they can trust the U.S. on climate now. Then, he’ll fly to Cambodia.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Heading into the weekend with no clarity yet on who will control the House or Senate. However, FDA policy riders are likely to be included in the end-of-year funding package, reports POLITICO (by subscription).