IBA/ABC

Executive Summary

BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) is probable name for new trade group to be formed from merger of the Industrial Biotechnology Association and the Association of Biotechnology Companies ("The Pink Sheet" Oct. 12, T&G-1). Final details of the merger are being negotiated by ABC Chairman Tom Wiggans (CytoTherapeutics) and IBA Chairman Stephen Duzan (Immunex). Richard Godown and William Small, current executives of IBA and ABC, are expected to head sections of BIO to serve companies that now comprise membership of their respective associations. The first group of candidates being interviewed for chief executive of BIO include Glaxo lobbyist Geoffrey Littlehale, formerly an aide to Rep. Synar (D-Okla.) and Capitol Hill contact for the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, and Patent & Trademark Office Acting Commissioner Douglas Comer, formerly a subcommittee aide to Sen. Dole (R-Kan.) and legislative counsel with the Washington law office of Akin Gump Strauss.