State Senator Brandon Shaffer Receives National BIO Legislator of the Year Award at Colorado BioScience Association 2006 Annual Membership Meeting

Denver, CO — Brandon Shaffer, State Senator District 17, was presented the national Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Legislator of the Year Award at the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) 2006 Annual Membership Meeting held today in Boulder at the University of Colorado. The announcement is made by Denise Brown, CBSA executive director, who says Senator Shaffer understands the importance of Colorado’s bioscience industry and has worked hard to ensure that Colorado’s business climate remains favorable to its bioscience companies and the thousands of high paying jobs the industry brings to the state.

Senator Shaffer was presented the award by Eric Bergeson, vice president of site operations for Amgen Colorado (http://www.amgen.com), who co-sponsored Senator Shaffer’s nomination for the national award along with CBSA. Amgen, a long-time supporter of CBSA has become a Gold Sponsor in 2006.

“Senator Shaffer showed remarkable courage in standing up for the hope our sector represents for patients through his sponsorship of a biologics exemption from a PDL bill before the 2005 Colorado Legislature,” Bergeson explains. “His amendment – crafted in cooperation with the Colorado BioScience Association – was the first biologics PDL exemption adopted by any state legislature, nationwide.”

Further, according to the nomination, Senator Shaffer translated personal experience associated with his brother's death (due to cancer) into action. He demonstrated leadership throughout the process in support of Colorado’s commitment to transform science and biotechnology into therapies that have the power to restore health or even save lives.

Senator Shaffer, born and raised in Denver, is a graduate of East High School. Receiving his undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1993, he was commissioned into active duty in the U.S. Navy until resigning his commission in 1997. He graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law and passed the Colorado Bar Exam in 2001. Senator Shaffer and wife Jessica reside in Longmont with their children, Dylan and Madison.

In other action at the meeting, CBSA’s 2006 corporate sponsors were announced and the 2006-2007 edition of Bioscience Colorado magazine officially released to the membership. In addition, seven new appointments were made to the board of directors, along with eight reappointments.

David Allen, the University of Colorado Associate VP for Technology Transfer, gave a presentation on “Ingredients for Technology Transfer Success” and assessed the technology transfer situation at CU in light of these factors. Allen has been CU's chief technology transfer office for four years. Previous to CU he held similar positions at The Ohio State University, Columbus, and Ohio University, Athens.

BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. Complete information is available at http://www.bio.org.

About Colorado BioScience Association

Colorado BioScience Association is a not-for-profit corporation providing services and support for Colorado’s growing biosciences industry. Colorado is carrying out an aggressive plan to grow the state’s bioscience industry into one of the country’s premier bioscience clusters. CBSA currently enjoys the support of more than 300 member organizations representing both bioscience companies and companies providing key services to the bioscience industry and research institutions in Colorado. The association’s main office is located in the Advance Colorado Center, 1625 Broadway, Suite 950, in Denver, plus satellite offices are maintained in the Fitzsimons Bioscience Park and at the Fort Collins Technology Incubator. A Colorado Springs satellite office is planned for the future. You can learn more about CBSA at the website http://www.cobioscience.com

Contacts:

Denise Brown, Executive Director, Colorado BioScience Association, http://www.cobioscience.com
303.592.4073 or 303.915.9762,
E-mail: dbrown@cobioscience.com

Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, Absolutely Public Relations, http://www.absolutelypr.com 303.984.9801 or 303.669.3558,
E-mail: maggie@absolutelypr.com