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April 30, 2007

In our backyard | Maine companies hope to take advantage of having the world's biggest biotech trade show in Boston

By Whit Richardson
Maine's economic development czars have been touting the state's potential as a biotechnology hub to the world for years. But let's face it; convincing the world of anything is tough from a small corner of New England, let alone in an arena as competitive as the biotech industry. But, what if the world were to come to us?

That's essentially what will happen in early May, when Boston plays host to the world's largest biotech trade show: the BIO International Convention.

The close proximity of the event has a large number of companies in Maine's biotech industry gearing up for four days of networking, promoting and recruiting. Maine Biotech, the umbrella organization for the Biotechnology Association of Maine and the Center for Innovation in Biotechnology, has organized a Maine pavilion to exhibit all the state has to offer to the global biotech industry.

The annual event, organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Biotechnology Industry Organization, will take over the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center May 6-9 and is expected to attract a global audience of more than 20,000 people from biotech companies, academic and research institutions, and just about any other type of organization that affiliates with the biotech industry. "And this occurs in our backyard," says William Harris, president of MariCal, a Portland animal nutrition and life sciences company, as well as president of the Biotechnology Association of Maine. "This is the most effective way for Maine companies to participate in the world's largest gathering of biotech entities."

Maine will be well represented at the event. While usually dwarfed at trade shows by pavilions from biotech-heavy places like California and France, the Maine pavilion will include 22 companies and organizations ready to hawk their goods and services to a global audience, from giants in the field like nonprofit research facility The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor to six-employee EastCoast Bio, a North Berwick company that makes antigens and antibodies for diagnostic manufacturers.

It's not just Maine biotech companies interested in rubbing elbows in Boston. Law firms like Pierce Atwood will be there to promote its intellectual property group. The Maine Patent Office and the Maine Technology Institute will send people to showcase the state's ability to help biotech companies commercialize and protect their products. Research centers like Maine Medical Center Research Institute and Gulf of Maine Research Institute will be there.
Even municipalities are joining the entourage: Portland, South Portland, Scarborough and Westbrook have pooled their economic development resources to head down under the umbrella of Greater Portland Business Development. "It's a great opportunity because it's in our backyard," says Nelle Hanig, Portland's business development representative.

For Hanig, BIO 2007 is a chance to show that New England's biotech hub extends beyond Cambridge. "We hope to paint a picture that we're a really good alternative to Boston for a biotech company, and do what we can to interest companies in coming here," she says. "We have more than lobster and blueberries; we have biotech here."

Does size matter?
But while the size of BIO 2007 means more opportunities for networking, it also means some companies will get lost in the shuffle. That's a concern for Doug McAllister, president of ViroStat, a small, Portland-based biotech firm that will exhibit in the Maine pavilion for the first time at the BIO International Convention. ViroStat sells antibodies to manufacturers of rapid diagnostic tests ˆ— the kind doctors use to give patients a quick diagnosis. It's a niche business, says McAllister, and one that might not stick out at a big show like BIO 2007. "The meeting is like a Sears-Roebuck," McAllister says. "You're in there somewhere, but how easy are you found? And do you stand out? That'll remain to be seen for ViroStat."

But for companies like ViroStat, it's worth the trip, even if they risk not being noticed. First off, Boston means cheap travel, enabling some companies to bring along big exhibits and a range of staffers to man their booth. What's more, Harris says joining the Maine pavilion costs a company just $2,000 compared to the $15,000 that a company would spend for an individual exhibit. "It's a good test for us," says ViroStat's McAllister. "[We] don't usually attend large and broad shows like this one."

The sheer size of the pavilion is seen as a benefit by those Maine companies attending the conference, because it will help draw a larger crowd, such as current clients of companies like Westbrook-based Idexx or nonprofits like The Jackson Laboratory. "The pavilion is going to be a magnet for interested parties that you may not come across," says William T. Thomas, chief operating officer at MariCal.

Maine Biotech organized a smaller Maine pavilion at BIO 2006 in Chicago, which included, among other things, the world's largest indoor cornfield. Only a dozen Maine companies and organizations traveled to Chicago, but Portland sent Hanig. She says she was wowed by the trade show's size and the opportunities it offered in terms of recruiting biotech companies to the greater Portland area. "Last year was a first, and more of learning experience," she says.

Next year, the BIO International Convention is scheduled to be held in San Diego. That location will likely be too expensive for many of Maine's smaller biotech companies to make the trip. As a result, MariCal's Harris feels it's important for Maine companies to take advantage of the big-time conference landing in their backyard. "This is a once in a long-time opportunity," he says.

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