Leadership and Biotechnology

Re cently, John Maraganore, Ron Cohen, Jeremy Levin, and I wrote a letter strongly objecting to the President's unremitting attacks on the Press.   We believe that freedom of speech, as embodied in a free press, is essential to the free exchange of ideas that is at the foundation of scientific discourse and, hence, biotechnology (not to mention a functional democracy).  Life science has an unfortunate history of being undermined by ideology.  It is critical for those of us who have assumed the responsibility for transforming that science into safe and effective new medicines to stand firm against any effort that would undermine the basis of scientific discourse.  That is a path down a rabbit hole to a land in which facts are met with equal validity by alternative facts and the truth becomes the dictate of the politically and economically powerful. The letter we wrote was circulated among our colleagues in the industry.  Over 150 biotech leaders joined us as signatories. 

BIO and Topless Dancers: Where to Cast Our Ayes NOTE : the main body of this piece was written in July 2018 immediately following the incidents described herein that took place in conjunction with the 2018 BIO Annual Meeting.   The Epilogue has just been added (October 6, 2018). =========================================== The event of topless dancers at a party held in conjunction with the recent BIO conference has occasioned quite a tizzy in the biotech twitter-sphere.   Recapping the narrative trope: A party features topless women dancers bearing the painted logos of companies that sponsored the event.   Photos of the women circulate John Maraganore, CEO of Alnylam and, importantly in this context, current Chair of BIO, tweets and is interviewed saying that sponsorship of such behavior is unacceptable and inconsistent with the values of the biotechnology industry o    Given Maraganore’s role as Chair of BIO, this carries an implication that companies sponsorin