Washington,
D.C.—Christopher Reeve, the actor, director and patients’
rights advocate, will participate in a panel discussion on
stem cells and human cloning issues on February 20 at the
Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, as part of the Biotechnology
Industry Organization’s CEO & Investor Conference 2002.
The panel, titled
“Cloning and Stem Cells: Public Policy and the Promise of
Regenerative Medicine,” will address the therapeutic potential
of these techniques, the public policy issues surrounding the
field, and how legislation pending in Congress would affect
the companies developing stem cell
technologies.
The U.S. Senate is
currently debating legislation that would prohibit human
reproductive cloning but would allow the use of somatic cell
nuclear transfer to create highly adaptive stem cells – a
process often called therapeutic cloning. That position was
endorsed last month by a National Academy of Sciences report.
The Senate is also considering a complete cloning ban similar
to one passed last summer by the House of Representatives.
President Bush has expressed support for such a ban, which
would criminalize both reproductive and therapeutic
applications of cloning.
Reeve, who was
paralyzed in a 1995 equestrian accident, chairs the
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, a nonprofit
organization that supports research to develop a cure for
paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other central
nervous system disorders. Reeve has also been active in the
Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research, which
supports stem cell research.
Also appearing on the
panel will be former U.S. Senator Connie Mack, R-Fla; Thomas
B. Okarma, CEO of Geron Corp.; Ron Cohen, MD, CEO of Acorda
Therapuetics; and Michael J.Werner, BIO vice-president of
Bioethics.
For more information on the
CEO & Investor Conference 2002, please
visit www.investinbio.com. Press registration is complimentary
for credentialed members of the news media. Advance press
registration closes on Feb. 14. Press releases, conference
updates and registration information are posted in the “Media”
section of the conference Web site. Contact Carrie Housman at
BIO (202-962-9200) with any questions.
BIO represents more than
1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state
biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S.
states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the
research and development of health-care, agricultural,
industrial and environmental biotechnology products. For more
information, please visit our Web site, www.bio.org.
CONTACTS
Carrie Housman
BIO
202/962-9200
Chousman@bio.org
Ashley Myler
SheaHedges
Group
703/287-7823
Amyler@sheahedges.com
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