Associate

WASHINGTON - The Washington Convention Center is the largest building in the city. It is 2.3 million square feet and its bulk swallows six city blocks. The power it uses could support a town of 7,500.

It's massive. BIO 2003, with its record registration of 15,980 and its 1,268 exhibits, requires something of that size. Each morning, when bus after bus departs from hotels and snake through Washington's streets en route to the center, the path takes attendees through the area surrounding the center, providing a stark contrast to the grandiose facility.

Small abandoned brick warehouses, busted windows, cracked concrete, closed shops. It's one of the reasons the location was chosen when the center was first proposed years ago: to bring jobs and a revenue injection to the area. The center and its surroundings - that discrepancy between having funding and needing funding - in a way mirror the industry itself.

"Did you attend the hospitality suites [Monday] night?" one BIO 2003 registrant asked another. "They were something else."

They were. In a financial environment that has some biotech companies bemoaning a lack of resources and forcing others to go belly-up, floating to the surface, the BIO 2003 conference could make a casual observer wonder how dry things really are. At the hospitality suites Monday night, the rooms were well decorated, the booze flowed, good food was set out - let the hobnobbing and networking begin. In fact, the entire conference, with its big-name speakers and gala receptions, has become so stately it can overwhelm newcomers.

"This is my first BIO," a woman told another attendee as they waited for their morning shuttle to the center. "It's very glitzy. I'm used to science meetings, not this much money floating around."

There have been hints of a turnaround in the industry, but it's fair to say things are still tough. At a morning session in the finance track, a panel discussed the nature of private financings in the current, difficult fund-raising environment. Venture capitalists said that they still have interest in unique companies, but commented that after the industry has spawned 50 genomics companies and 20 proteomics companies, some start-ups now lack that "unique" aspect.

And although venture capitalists have all been dealing with the dilution that comes with "substantial down rounds," they agreed that when deciding whether to invest in a company, the technology and the people at the helm both rank higher than company valuations.

That should give hope to the many biotechnology companies that need funds. The potential revenue associated with biotechnology - not just the product revenue it can bring a company, but the jobs it can supply, the economic base it can lay down in a region - makes it attractive globally. Research Triangle Park in North Carolina is a prime example. It is the third largest biotechnology hub in the U.S., built on the science from the area's universities, and has given rise to scores of jobs and a bustling economy in a state formerly best known for its tobacco.

Looking at the exhibition hall, it's clear many regions are pushing for biotechnology dollars. BIO 2003's masses include representatives from 57 countries and a total of 4,700 international attendees. The hall has 19 state and 19 international pavilions. Pennsylvania has a tremendous pavilion. Iowa has one, boasting its biotech presence. New York has staked out a space. Worldwide, there are British, French, Swiss and Australian pavilions, just to name a few. A biotechnology presence has shown in the past it can strengthen economies and provide important influxes of cash, and those states, regions or countries that don't feature biotechnology, want to.

Tuesday's convention center activities ended with regional receptions in the exhibition hall, another way for those seeking biotechnology attention to stop individual members, to make their pitch, to explain what they have to offer and detail why biotechnology should be interested in them. As they wound down, BIO 2003 attendees filed out of the hall and again lined up for the shuttles for the winding trip back through Washington's streets.