On the second day of BIO 2016, the Moscone Center in San Francisco was definitely heating up. Tuesday’s keynote featured Dr. Bennet Omalu and actor Will Smith, who played the forensic pathologist in the movie “Concussion.” Omalu went head to head with the National Football League to expose how repeated head injuries could lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and jeopardize brain health.
During the discussion, the topic shifted to Muhammad Ali, whom Smith also played in a previous biopic. Ali announced many years ago that he suffered from Parkinson’s disease, but Omalu thinks differently, hypothesizing the boxer may have suffered from CTE.
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BIO added a new category this year, Fireside Chats, which are like mini keynotes. Tuesday’s talks featured Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California; Pamela Gavin, COO at the National Organization of Rare Disorders; and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf.
Califf stressed the need for both industry and the FDA to partner with patients and patient groups to better meet their needs. He noted that the only way to really quantify patients’ risk thresholds is to ask them. The commissioner also highlighted the FDA’s efforts to expand patient access to experimental medicines under their compassionate use guidelines.
But as busy and enlightening as the sessions were, the networking and dealmaking were proceeding at a furious pace. Leda Notchey is vice president of marketing at Cambridge Massachusetts-based Gen9, a synthetic biology company that manufactures synthetic DNA for a variety of applications.
“Everything from therapeutics to renewable chemicals to vaccine production,” said Notchey. Just a few days ago, Gen9 cut a deal with renewable products company Amyris to sell them large quantities of synthetic DNA.
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Notchey came to BIO to learn even more about synthetic biology and its applications – who’s using it and what are they using it for? She had just left the “Tools of the Trade” session on synthetic biology and was particularly impressed by David Venables, CEO of Synpromics, which manufactures synthetic promoters to control gene expression.
After that, more synthetic biology. “I’ll be meeting with various companies to discuss their gene synthesis needs,” Notchey said.
She had to leave in a hurry. Day 2 was fading fast and there are only two days left in BIO 2016.