More than 70 companies and organizations will be in attendance at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver this week for BioWest 2006, an annual conference of bioscience companies in the Rocky Mountain region.
The event begins Wednesday and ends with an awards dinner Thursday night, recognizing top biotech and medical-device companies. More than 700 attendees are expected to participate in panel discussions or as exhibitors.
The Colorado BioScience Association and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade are co-sponsoring the event.
There are an estimated 11,700 bioscience workers at more than 350 companies in the metro Denver region, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
Scheduled discussions will cover a range of topics from regulatory issues in the drug development process to tax efficiency for emerging companies.
Keynote speakers include Michael Orlando, vice president and Denver branch executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Alan Eisenberg, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization in Washington, D.C., will participate in a panel on “A preview and analysis of state and national elections.”
Chief executives of local bioscience companies Myogen, Replidyne, Allos Therapeutics, Encision and Pharmion also are scheduled to speak.
Seven startup firms will vie for $10,000 in the venture showcase competition Wednesday.
The Colorado BioScience Association named winners of its 2006 awards, which will be given Thursday at the conference.
Among them:
Lifetime Achievement – (two awards) Gov. Bill Owens and Paul Ray, the one-time director of the Colorado Office of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, which was part of the Governor’s Office of Innovation and Technology.
Company of the year award – Myogen, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders.
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-820-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
