Insurance barriers can stand between patients and the care they need, and clinical guidelines can help break them down. Lenja Wiehe, Director, Global Patient Advocacy Lead at @AlexionPharmaUS, moderated a #BIOPACE26 conversation on how guidelines can help patients get access in the clinic. She was joined by Allison Foss, Executive Director of Myasthenia Gravis Association; Dottie Shead, Assistant Vice President, Patient Information Operations at @NCCN; and Jamie Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at @RareAdvocates.

There is nothing that can replace the story a person tells about what they’ve been through. That was Katy Grainger’s message opening day two of #BIOPACE26. A survivor of a life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infection that cost her both lower legs and seven fingertips, Katy is a @SepsisAlliance board member and author who now speaks nationally on sepsis awareness - and is featured in BIO's campaign #FightofOurLives. Introduced by BIO’s Sarah Alspach, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Katy made the case for why the patient voice belongs in the rooms where policy gets made. Read more on Bio.News: bio.news/latest-news/pace-pa…

Making medicines more affordable for patients is a goal everyone shares. The question is what actually gets us there. At #BIOPACE26, @Maimah, President and CEO of the @tigerlilycares, and Tiffany Westrich-Robertson, CEO of @IFAiArthritis, dug into the growing evidence that prescription drug affordability boards (PDABs) don’t - and that the savings they promise rarely reach patients. Hear from BIO’s Brian Warren, Vice President, State Government Affairs, who moderated, on what the record shows and what would genuinely move affordability.

Day two at #BIOPACE26 is underway! Advocates filed in past our #FightofOurLives photo activation, sharing what they’re fighting for on the way into the morning’s first session. Opening the morning is BIO’s Sarah Alspach, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, who introduced Katy Grainger - sepsis survivor, amputee advocate, and author, who shared her story of an antibiotic-resistant infection, the moment she learned it was sepsis, and the mission that followed: making sure others recognize the signs in time. Today’s conversations turn to the barriers increasingly standing between patients and treatment - and the policy solutions that could ease them.

What do drug pricing policies actually mean for patients trying to get treatment? Jennifer Snow, Founder and Managing Director of Apteka and Pat Wildman, Senior Vice President, Advocacy & Government Relations at @LupusOrg joined BIO Senior Director of Patient Advocacy Karin Hoelzer for a conversation on what the IRA, PDABs, and Most Favored Nation (MFN) pricing practices actually mean for patients trying to get treatment. #BIOPACE26

The most effective advocate in the room is often the person living it - or the one caring for them. Bio.News talked with Annie Kennedy, Chief Mission Officer at the @RareAdvocates, about why advocacy can’t be something only insiders can do - and what leaders owe the patients they serve: policy made plain enough to act on. Annie joined Sue Peschin, MHS, President and CEO of the @Aging_Research, and Erika Sward, Chief Advocacy Officer at @UsAgainstAlz, for “Home Run! Patient Advocates Leading the Way” - a conversation on how patients and caregivers drive meaningful policy change. BIO’s Michele Oshman moderated. Read more on Bio.News: bio.news/federal-policy/pati…

Kicking off #BIOPACE26, Neena Patil, Co-Chair of BIO’s Patient Advocacy and Alliance Development Committee, welcomes the advocates and innovators gathered in Washington for the next two days. Neena serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at @JazzPharma.

#BIOPACE26 is officially underway! On their way to this morning’s kickoff session, attendees are stopping by the #FightOfOurLives photo activation to share what they’re fighting for - and carrying it right into this morning's programming. First up: Home Run! Patient Advocates Leading the Way, with Michele Oshman, BIO's Chief Patient Advocate and Senior Vice President, Alliance Development - joined by Annie Kennedy, Chief Mission Officer, @RareAdvocates; Sue Peschin, MHS, President and CEO, @Aging_Research; and Erika Sward, Chief Advocacy Officer, @UsAgainstAlz Here's to two days of patient advocates from across the community sharing the insights, priorities, and strategies that will drive meaningful policy change.

.@genentech marks 50 years with “The Impossible Bet,” a documentary produced with @nytimes' T Brand Studio. It follows the company from the first human insulin to Herceptin, and the patients who shaped its work along the way. Read more on Bio.News: bio.news/health/genentech-do…

Almost 15 million people in the U.S. are fighting an autoimmune disease, and a third of them live with more than one condition. For many, today’s treatments are not enough. Biotech researchers are working to change that. More at FightofOurLives.com #FightofOurLives #BiotechInnovation

50 years of biotechnology - in 50 seconds 🧬⏱️ Harout Semerjian, President & CEO of Geron Corporation, looks ahead to the diseases biotech will conquer next and the patients who will gain that opportunity. #Biotech50

Revisit: BIO on the American Road stopped in Research Triangle Park (RTP) on Oct. 2nd - #MFGDay26! BIO President & CEO John F. Crowley led a delegation that, alongside @NCLifeSci , toured @ncbiotech and @Biogen's RTC campus with Rep. @DeborahRossNC (D-NC), meeting with local industry leaders and patient advocates. Read more on Bio.News: bio.news/state-policy/bio-on…

From the boardroom to the news media, veteran healthcare broadcast journalist @MikeHuckman, Principal of The Huckman Group, will lead an interactive #BIOPACE26 workshop helping patient advocates and industry leaders deliver concise, clear, confident and quotable messages. Learn more about the program: pace.bio.org

Patients living with rare disease often cannot be served by traditional drug development paradigms. Today, BIO applauds the FDA for the launch of the Rare Disease Framework Initiative to develop a fit-for-purpose framework for rare disease drug development.

In 2024, Marci Pedrazzi McCue became the first person in a U.S. clinical trial to receive an investigational CAR-T cell therapy for MS. For Marci, the courage to try something new brought hope for a future with greater certainty and independence. Her journey reflects the work of Dr. Jeffrey Dunn and the Stanford University School of Medicine team, Dr. Naji Gehchan and @kyverna_us, and the countless others pushing science forward for everyone living with MS. This is Marci's story: fightofourlives.com/stories/… #FightofOurLives #MultipleSclerosis #Biotechnology

SBIR and STTR, the federal seed funding programs Congress reauthorized in March, now offer larger awards and new paths for biotech start-ups. What should applicants know before the Jan. 5 deadline? Bio.News has NCI's guidance: bio.news/federal-policy/nati…

Small and emerging biotechs drive the innovation patients depend on, often investing years in research and development before a treatment ever reaches a patient. That progress relies on the ability to sustain investment through years of clinical trials, uncertainty and setbacks. Importing other countries’ price controls risks undermining that investment and jeopardizing future treatments - without addressing the role insurers and middlemen play in driving up medicine costs. It’s time to #SimplifyTheSystem: bio.org/simplify-the-system

Last call for BIO 2027 session submissions! The deadline to submit is this Thursday, Oct. 15. Submitting is free, and accepted proposals come with General Access registration. convention.bio.org/program/2…

Policy is dynamic, complex, and can be challenging to navigate. BIO's upcoming Patient Advocacy Coffee Chat will examine strategic opportunities for patient groups to advance policy priorities that improve patient access to therapies. Advocacy in Action Tuesday, October 13 | 12:00–1:00 PM ET Speakers: Ellie Dehoney, Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, Research!America Amanda Krzepicki, MPH, Policy Director, @AutoimmuneAssoc Brian DuVal, MPH, Director, Patient Advocacy, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) Moderated by Karin Hoelzer, DVM, PhD, Senior Director, Patient Advocacy, BIO Register: bio-org.zoom.us/meeting/regi…