(Washington, D.C.) Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood announced today that Sara Radcliffe, formerly Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs at BIO, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Health and Lila Feisee has been promoted to Vice President for Global Intellectual Property Policy. 

“Sara has been a tremendous asset to BIO for the past seven years.  Her understanding of complex science as well as the regulatory environment at the Food and Drug Administration has been invaluable to our organization and our member companies,” stated Greenwood.  “Sara is uniquely qualified to guide our efforts on critical pressing issues such as the implementation of health care reform and the reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.”

Before joining BIO, Radcliffe was Senior Director, Biologics & Biotechnology, and Assistant Vice-President, Preclinical Drug Safety Evaluation, at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).  She also worked for the Alliance and Technology Group at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals as a Research and Development Policy Analyst where her work focused on evaluation and communication of the promise, ethics, and impact of rapidly-developing technologies in DNA research, including pharmacogenetics.

“BIO represents one of the most innovative and exciting industries in the world, and our member companies’ products hold tremendous promise for the improvement of human health,” stated Radcliffe.  “I am honored to work with these companies to shape a policy and regulatory environment that will foster their ability to discover, develop, and bring to market important health care products to enhance and extend the lives of millions of patients.”

Prior to joining BIO in 2000, Feisee spent ten years at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office first as a patent examiner and then in policy development.  She has also worked at the National Institutes of Health in the National Cancer Institute, Laboratory of Genetics where she isolated and characterized viral and human oncogenes.

“Lila has very ably guided BIO’s domestic and international efforts on intellectual property and technology transfer policy for the past ten years,” stated Greenwood.  “She effectively advocates for the strong intellectual property protection necessary for continued innovation.”

“We are fortunate to have the impressive scientific and policy expertise of Sara and Lila,” Greenwood concluded.  “They are critical to BIO’s efforts to create a public policy environment which nurtures innovation and enables our member companies to develop therapeutics and other products for patients and consumers in the U.S. and around the world.”

About BIO
BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.