December 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the Bayh-Dole Act. AUTM joined forces with the Association of American Universities, BIO, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the American Council on Education to celebrate the Act and communicate its value. The Bayh-Dole Act 30th Anniversary Event was held today at the Washington Convention Center. The American Council on Education and Venable, LLP sponsored the event.
The first half of the event included remarks from original congressional sponsor of the Act, Sen. Birch Bayh. Other notable speakers included Sharon Barner, Deputy Director, USPTO and William Kirwan, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland. Patient advocate Betsy de Parry spoke of her diagnosis of an incurable form of follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2002, de Parry talked about the life saving treatment, radioimmunotherapy (RIT), that was co-developed at the University of Michigan. “It was the Bayh-Dole Act that enabled them to turn their discovery into a life-saving treatment that has given many lymphoma patients back their futures,” said de Parry.
de Parry presented awards for Outstanding Contributions to American Innovation to Senators Bayh and Dole. Michael Connor, partner, Alston & Bird, accepted the award for Sen. Dole, who wasn’t able to attend the event.
Sen. Bayh presented The Driving Innovation Award to Howard Bremer, Ralph Davis and Norm Latker for their work in drafting the Bayh-Dole Act. The Bayh-Dole 30th Anniversary Award was presented to Joseph Allen for his work over the past 30 years as a champion for the Bayh-Dole Act.
Former Rep. Jim Greenwood, CEO of BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) moderated the second half of the event, a panel discussion among business, university and policy leaders which included Sharon Barner, Deputy Director, USPTO; Sen. Bayh; Betsy de Parry, Patient Advocate; William E. Kirwan, Chancellor of the University System of Maryland; and Bart Newland, Biogen.