NEW YORK--President Bush is reportedly considering a proposal to hire a biotechnology coordinator to provide a single voice for the administration's views on biotech and genomic issues and avoid the conflicts when different federal agencies present differing opinions, according to US Senator Timothy Hutchinson, Republican of Arkansas.

Speaking yesterday at the Biotechnology Industry Organization's CEO & Investor Conference at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Hutchinson said the unique scientific, social, and political issues in biotech warrant an individual who can communicate the US position. Hutchinson, who with Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut leads the Senate's biotech caucus, said he has discussed the idea of a biotech coordinator with Bush.

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Trade Representative's office present policies and views that may conflict. The rapid scientific changes in biotech that affect these governmental agencies warrant "one voice from the federal agencies," said Hutchinson.

His call for a biotech coordinator comes before Bush has had a chance to fill several key positions, notably an FDA commissioner, a White House science adviser, and a National Science Foundation director. It also comes nearly a year after a communication mix-up over patenting of discoveries from the Human Genome Project was made at a press briefing between former President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. That problem led to a major sell-off of biotech and pharmaceutical stocks last March before it was corrected.

"A biotech coordinator is a good idea, one that would avoid the snafu that happened last year," said Carl Feldbaum, BIO president. "However, I think a strong science adviser, a person with molecular biology background, would go a long way, too."

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