To be eligible for membership in BIO, a firm or organization must fit into one of the membership categories outlined in BIO’s bylaws (i.e., Core, Associate, Affiliate, and Center members). Further, membership in BIO is open only to firms or organizations that generally support BIO’s public policy positions, and whose own positions and business practices are generally consistent with BIO’s reputation and its policies and principles in support of innovation, including intellectual property rights. As part of the application and membership renewal process, each firm or organization is required to affirm that it meets such criteria.
As an indicium of a Core Member’s “support for innovation,” an important criterion includes an assessment of whether a Core Member company invests significantly in innovative (i.e., new and novel) biotechnological research and development (R&D) activities.
Beyond these core requirements of membership, BIO expects that its members will not engage in conduct that is detrimental to the purpose or reputation of the organization.
BIO Statements and Principles regarding Biotech Social Responsibilities:
In addition to BIO’s membership criteria, BIO’s Board of Directors has, over the years, adopted a series of official Statements and Principles that help to set expectations regarding the social responsibilities of our members and the broader biotechnology community, and to encourage societally beneficial conduct. While non-exhaustive, we have provided below the links to some of the most important Statements and Principles adopted by BIO’s Board.
- Developing an Inclusive and Impactful Approach to Transparency for Biotechnology in Food & Agriculture
- Statement of BIO Ethical Principles
- Principles on Protecting Research and Research Participants
- Principles on Responsible Sharing of Truthful and Non-Misleading Information About Medicines With Health Care Professionals and Payers
- Statement of Ethical Principles for the Care and Use of Animals in Biotechnology Research
- Statement on the Ethical Use of Biotechnology to Promote Public Health and National Security and to Fight Against Bioterrorism
- Guiding Principles for Interaction with Patient Advocacy Organizations
- Principles on Clinical Trial Data Sharing
- Statement Regarding Interactions With Healthcare Professionals
- BIO Policy Statement Regarding Genetic Privacy
- Policy Statement on Options for Increasing Access to Medicines in the Developing World
- Principles on Value of Biopharmaceuticals
- Principles on Workforce Development, Diversity and Inclusion (WDDI) for the Biotech Industry
- Position Statement on Human Genome Editing
For more information about BIO’s Membership Compact or the Statements and Principles described above, please contact BIO’s Membership Department at biomember@bio.org.
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