Georgia Bio Members Take Advantage of the Abundant Networking and Partnering Opportunities at BIO 2019

Georgia Bio was delighted to attend the 2019 BIO International Convention in Philadelphia from June 3rd to June 6th. During the four days of programming and exhibitions under the theme, “It Starts with One,” Georgia Bio and some of its members had the opportunity to continue their mission of advancing the growth of Georgia’s life science industry by fostering new and existing relationships with like-minded organizations. 

The 2019 BIO International Convention included 126 educational sessions, more than 800 speakers, over 250 company presentations, 1,800 exhibitors, and plenty of networking and partnering opportunities. Among the 17,300 attendees at this year’s event were both Georgia life science companies and Georgia Bio members, PainCareLabs and Recro Gainesville.

Dr. Amy Baxter, founder and CEO of PainCareLabs in Atlanta, spoke positively about her experience exhibiting at the 2019 Convention and on the support that the State of Georgia was able to provide their affiliated companies that allowed them to take full advantage of their time at the convention. 

“Georgia did everything right,” explained Baxter. “They had a gorgeous booth, offered strong support so we could focus on networking, and executed great planning in advance.

“It may seem odd to be a medical device company at a bio/pharma event, but our devices work in conjunction with pharma products to block the pain of their injections and everyone was interested in how we could make the patient journey better for their patients. The explosion in the biosimilars market means companies want a way to differentiate their product and support.” 

Amy also noted that the female to men ratio at Convention was significantly higher compared to other industry conferences that she has attended, including J.P. Morgan, and there were several female CEOs that visited their booth. This year, BIO was able to break their own Guinness World Record for “The Largest Business Partnering Event” – previously set at BIO 2018 – by participating in over 48,500 partnering meetings at this year’s convention. Gaining access to an environment that facilitates this many networking and partnering opportunities is exactly why companies like PainCareLabs look forward to attending the annual event. 

“BIO is all about deals and we were able to get our first purchase order just 7 days after the show,” said Baxter. “We would definitely attend again!”

Tara Lorenz, Senior Marketing Manager at Recro Gainesville , also expressed her company’s enthusiasm for the event and the support that was provided to Georgia organizations. 

“Many attendees were excited to see the State of Georgia represented at BIO 2019 and approached our booth to learn about Recro Gainesville’s capabilities as a Contract Drug Manufacturing Organization,” stated Lorenz.  

“By attending and exhibiting at events such as BIO 2019, we have the opportunity to learn and reflect on how recent innovations and advances in technology could have a global impact to address unmet medical needs and increase the number of approved orphan drugs and rare disease medications worldwide.”

Lorenz also elaborated on the value of events like BIO that bring together large groups of innovators who don’t normally have the opportunity to collaborate on a day-to-day basis.

“This kind of collaboration is so instrumental for sharing best practices and fostering advancement in healthcare,” she explained. “These new conversations that develop into trusted relationships could advance a new molecule all the way to FDA approval and result in novel therapies for future generations. Events like this one truly help set the stage for manufacturing and commercializing new life saving medications for patients.” 

Georgia Bio loved the opportunity to partner with the State of Georgia on the Georgia Pavilion to help drive growth for our members and Georgia’s biosciences industry at the BIO International Convention, and we are looking forward to BIO 2020 in San Diego! For more information on Georgia Bio and our mission, visit www.gabio.org or follow us on Twitter @Georgia_Bio

By Sheran Brown June 17, 2025
This week marks an important milestone for workforce development in the U.S. life sciences sector: the official launch of the Life Sciences Workforce Collaborative (LSWC) . Formerly known as the Coalition of State Bioscience Institutes (CSBI) , LSWC premiered at the 2025 BIO International Convention as a new national nonprofit—building on over a decade of state and regional leadership to expand industry-aligned solutions for talent development. As the life sciences industry confronts evolving technologies, shifting economic headwinds, and persistent workforce challenges - including specialized talent needs, unmet demand for skilled biomanufacturers, positioning for future growth —LSWC offers a unified platform to scale solutions, support workforce readiness, and strengthen public-private partnerships across the country. Just out of the gate, the new organization is pleased to announce a major insight-driven release later this month: the upcoming 2025 National Life Sciences Workforce Trends Report , produced in partnership with TEConomy Partners and the NSF-funded InnovATEBIO National Biotech Education Center . Comprised of data from over 700 life science companies and 2.9 million job postings, the report will go live on June 24, 2025. Why This Matters The newly launched LSWC builds on more than a decade of trusted collaboration among 50+ state, regional and national life science organizations and workforce partners. Its mission: to align, advise, and accelerate talent development efforts across the entire life sciences talent pipeline—from middle school to mid-career--to build a competitive life sciences workforce. Next week, the LSWC will launch the 2025 National Workforce Trends Report, the organization’s flagship effort. Now in its seventh edition, this biennial report draws on: Responses from over 500 companies across 30 states and Puerto Rico Interviews with over 200 life science executives Analysis of 2.9 million unique job postings across the U.S. from the last four years The report is the definitive source for understanding the real-world trends shaping hiring, upskilling, and STEM education engagement across the life sciences ecosystem. More to come next week. What Comes Next In the weeks ahead, we’ll be working with our partners to roll out media toolkits, schedule events, and activate coordinated campaigns to bring visibility to both the LSWC launch and the report. We are deeply grateful to our investor-level supporters—AZBio/AZ Advances, BioNJ, BioUtah, California Life Sciences, Georgia Life Sciences/Institute, Colorado Bioscience Association/Institute, MichBio, NewYorkBIO/Institute, Ohio Life Sciences, Oregon Bioscience Association, SCbio, and Southern California Biomedical Council (SoCalBio)—LSWC partners and connectors, and to every organization that has shaped this initiative from the ground up. Together, we are building a stronger, competitive, and future-ready workforce—one that ensures the U.S. remains the global leader in biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and life sciences innovation. Stay tuned and learn how you can partner with us to advance the life sciences workforce. Learn more at: www.LifeSciencesWorkforce.org For media inquiries: connect@lifesciencesworkforce.org
By Sheran Brown June 16, 2025
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