New England CRO/CMO Council to Hold Town Hall Meeting and Discussion Featuring Travis McCready, President/CEO of the Mass Life Science Center and Michael Kennealy, Assistant Secretary for Business Growth in the Office of Housing and Economic Development

Kernwood Country Club, Monday, October 26, 2015 6pm-8:30pm


MARLBOROUGH, MA and NEWBURYPORT, MA--(Marketwired - Oct 8, 2015) -  The New England CRO/CMO Council, a non-profit trade organization made up of contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) that serve the life science community, will host a town hall meeting and discussion with Travis McCready, the newly appointed head of the Massachusetts Life Science Center (MLSC), the quasi-public state agency, on Oct. 26th at 6pm. Former interim CEO, Michael Kennealy, will also participate; Kennealy is Assistant Secretary for Business Growth in the office of Housing and Economic Development headed by Secretary Jay Ash.

The event will be held Oct. 26th at 6pm at the Kernwood Country Club in Salem, MA. Those interested in attending can sign up here: http://bit.ly/1j5Q724.

"The CRO/CMO Town Hall meeting is a first of its kind event, giving leadership from each of the over 225 New England based CROs and CMOs the opportunity to speak directly with the state and direct the future of our cluster," said Ed Price, President of PCI Synthesis and a member of the NE CRO/CMO Council. "We're at a critical juncture. The virtual pharma business model prevalent today was in its infancy back in the early 2000's."

The NE CRO/CMO Council acts as the voice of the dynamic subsection of the life sciences community and its 16,000 employees; this year, the council has held meetings with House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, authored an article about the growth of the CRO and CMO sector, and continually works in coordination with Bob Coughlin, President of MassBio.

"The meetings we've been holding this year play a critical role in updating the Commonwealth's investment strategy for growth in the life sciences industry. We need legislators and others, like Travis and Michael, to better understand how the state's programs and incentive programs must adjust to support the direction the industry has taken," said Jeffrey Kiplinger, Ph.D., President of Averica Discovery and a founder of the Council.

From the Council's perspective, the current incentives provided by the MLSC should be updated to favor drug development and manufacturing within the Commonwealth.

"Unfortunately, the majority of it is actually spent outside the region limiting the overall growth of the sector, reducing the number of new life science jobs that could be created, and limiting the return on the tax payer's investment. Canada and Switzerland for example have figured this out and are reaping the benefits," Price added.

About the NE CRO/CMO Council
New England-based CROs and CMOs employ more than 16,000 people and generating nearly $2.5 billion dollars in annual revenue. The NE CRO/CMO Council seeks to strengthen the Boston cluster, and to enable members to partner with each other, which can ease transition for mutual customers and/or expands offerings.

Contact Information:

Contact:
Norman Birnbach
Birnbach Communications

781-639-6701