Founded in 1993, the Biotechnology Industry Organization is an advocacy organization for the biotech sector. Since 1998, the group has spent $23.6 million on lobbying. Their core issues include opposition to price controls, turning public and political opinion in favor of genetically modified foods, and supporting stem cell research, tax incentives for biotechnology companies, and FDA deregulation.
Twelve of the world's 20 largest pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, sanofi-aventis, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Novartis AG, AstraZeneca Plc, Wyeth, Abbott Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Co., Amgen Inc. and Bayer AG, are members of BIO or have subsidiaries that are members.
BIO's current president is Jim Greenwood, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania.