D.C., meet the synthetic biology lobby

THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING CHEMIST FRANCES ARNOLD RECEIVED AN AWARD AT LAST WEEK’S SYNBIOBETA CONFERENCE — AND MADE THE COVER OF THE INDUSTRY GROUP’S NEW MAGAZINE. (SYNBIOBETA)

Last week, a handful of synthetic biology companies launched a shiny new lobby group called the Bioeconomy Alliance. The founding members of the group are a number of the splashiest companies operating in this space — a varied industry that manufactures everything from new foods like the Impossible Burger to made-to-order DNA and that prides itself on its counterculture ethos. 

And what great timing: The White House on Monday held its first ever summit on the “bioeconomy,” an all-day event meant to solicit information from the burgeoning industry. And it was clear there that the White House and the Bioeconomy Alliance were singing from the same songbook. Both the administration and the companies are calling this an inflection point: truckloads of money are flowing into the industry at the same time that the Trump White House is keen on crafting a strategy to build up the new technology.

Don’t expect the Bioeconomy Alliance to be a mini PhRMA, though. “The traditional biopharma industry has a culture of secrecy and conservative formalitty ... that’s the complete opposite to the synthetic biology culture,” said John Cumbers, the head of SynBioBeta, which is organizing the new group. “Whenever I go to biopharma drug industry events, I want to leave almost as quickly as I’ve arrived.”

Exactly how that difference in culture will translate into lobbying strategy remains to be seen. But for more on the Bioeconomy Alliance and the White House summit, check out my new story co-authored with STAT’s resident Silicon Valley expert, Rebecca Robbins, here.