In recent weeks, CBSA’s Policy + Advocacy team has continued to strengthen our relationships with and showcase Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem to our state and federal legislators, legislative/congressional staff, and other public figures. 

This week’s Policy Blog includes more information about and photos from CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour and the National Governors Association Summer Meeting. 

CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour  

CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour, July 23-24, brought together visionaries from our ecosystem with investors, economic developers, educators, policymakers, and companies considering Colorado—giving them a front-row view of our state’s life sciences momentum. We explored the infrastructure, innovation, and talent fueling Colorado’s rise as a top-tier hub for health impact during this inaugural event. 

Two buses visited eleven sites over two days, including leading innovation communities, leading-edge developments, global companies with deep roots in Colorado, fast-growing startups, and some of the state’s R-1 academic and research institutions. CBSA also held four community events open to the broader life sciences ecosystem. 

Matt Teter, CBSA’s Vice President of Partnerships; Elyse Blazevich, CBSA’s President and CEO; and Amy Goodman, CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy. 

One of the highlights of the Innovation Tour was a high-energy community breakfast at BioMed Realty in Boulder with Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who reinforced the life sciences community’s momentum and growing national influence. He recognized the ecosystem’s strength in raising capital—$2.15 billion in 2024 alone. Colorado now ranks as a top 20 global hub for life sciences R&D. The Governor spoke to the resilience and collaborative nature of our ecosystem and acknowledged the role of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) in supporting innovation. OEDIT provides critical nondilutive funding for advanced industries through the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Program. OEDIT also provides funding and support for the CBSA-led Colorado Hub for Health Impact economic development campaign, alongside 30+ partners. 

Colorado Governor Jared Polis spoke during CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour community breakfast at BioMed Realty in Boulder. 

During the Innovation Tour, CBSA also hosted five Colorado legislators and four staff members from key congressional offices: 

• Sen. Judy Amabile, District 18 (Boulder) 
• Sen. Katie Wallace, District 17 (Boulder, Broomfield, Weld) 
• Sen. Cathy Kipp, District 14 (Larimer) 
• Rep. Lisa Feret, District 24 (Adams, Jefferson) 
• Rep. Dan Woog, District 19 (Boulder, Weld) 
• James Thompson, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Northern Colorado – Eastern Plains Regional Director 
• Gabe Martinez, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Denver Metro Regional Representative 
• Max Coker, U.S. Representative Joe Neguse’s Field Representative 
• David Aguirre, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen’s Constituent Service Representative 

Below is a collection of photos from the Innovation Tour highlighting their engagement. 

CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour began at Fitzsimons Innovation Community in Aurora, where 80+ visionary organizations are working on life-changing developments in bioscience and healthcare at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, one of the nation’s top academic medical centers. With a newly approved master plan, the community is poised for strategic growth. Gabe Martinez, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Denver Metro Regional Representative (tan sweater), joined us for the kickoff of this two-day event and the tour of Fitzsimons Innovation Community. 

Gabe Martinez, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Denver Metro Regional Representative, and Amy Goodman, CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy, enjoyed the tour of Colorado Health & Tech Centers, which reflects the state’s entrepreneurial spirit. Founded by a serial biotech innovator, Afshin Safavi, Ph.D., this development is designed for high-growth industries and built with collaboration in mind. 

David Aguirre, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen’s Constituent Service Representative (orange shirt), and Gabe Martinez, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Denver Metro Regional Representative (tan sweater), learned from Cindy Ng, Senior Vice President, Global Commercial, about how Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies has shaped Colorado’s life sciences workforce for more than five decades. Their innovations touch millions of patients, and their commitment to Colorado has helped build the infrastructure and talent pool that power our ecosystem today. 

Amy Goodman, CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy (patterned dress); Sen. Katie Wallace, District 17 (Boulder, Broomfield, Weld) (black shirt); and Sen. Judy Amabile, District 18 (Boulder) (white shirt) toured Medtronic, a global medical technology company with deep roots in Colorado, during CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour. 

Amy Goodman, CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy (patterned dress); Sen. Katie Wallace, District 17 (Boulder, Broomfield, Weld) (black shirt); Sen. Judy Amabile, District 18 (Boulder) (white shirt); and Max Coker, U.S. Representative Joe Neguse’s Field Representative (navy shirt), examined a hyper-realistic 3D-printed banana while touring Medtronic during CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour. 

CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour participants posed for a photo after touring Umoja Biopharma, which is powering breakthroughs in cell and gene therapy as it works to explore the new frontier for treating cancer and autoimmune diseases. 

Amy Goodman, CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy (patterned dress); Rep. Lisa Feret, District 24 (Adams, Jefferson) (navy dress); and James Thompson, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Northern Colorado – Eastern Plains Regional Director, spoke during CBSA’s community event at Foresight Diagnostics, a breakthrough cancer diagnostics company that moved to Colorado during the pandemic and then expanded quickly at Fitzsimons Innovation Community before moving to Boulder in 2024. 

James Thompson, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Northern Colorado – Eastern Plains Regional Director (far left), and other attendees learned about how Boulder-based Enveda uses AI to decode nature’s chemistry and fuel drug discovery. Backed by nearly $400 million, the clinical-stage company is a standout in Colorado’s thriving life sciences ecosystem. 

Amy Goodman, CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy; Joe Guiles, PhD, Agilent Technologies’ Head of Development; Elyse Blazevich, CBSA’s President and CEO; Rep. Dan Woog, District 19 (Boulder, Weld); and Blake Unterreiner, Agilent Technologies’ Vice President & General Manager, Nucleic Acid Solutions Division, posed for a photo after Joe and Blake led a tour of Agilent Technologies’ Frederick facility, in which the company is investing $725 million to add two manufacturing lines to expand production of the pharmaceutical ingredients it manufactures. 

Sen. Cathy Kipp, District 14 (Larimer) (green shirt) and James Thompson, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Northern Colorado – Eastern Plains Regional Director (navy shirt), joined CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour at Innosphere Ventures, where they learned about how Innosphere is accelerating the growth of life sciences startups through its Life Sciences Incubation Program, strategic investments, and lab and office space tailored for high-growth companies. Kevin Noble, Innosphere’s Life Sciences Incubator Program Director, moderated a panel discussion with Reilly Williams, CEO, Entirely Well; Camila Uzcategui, PhD, CEO & Co-Founder, Manifest Technologies; and Kirk McGilvray, PhD, CEO, Vital Foams. 

CBSA’s Drive to Five: Colorado Life Sciences Innovation Tour ended with a community event at Colorado State University’s Translational Medicine Institute—part of the top-ranked CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Sen. Cathy Kipp, District 14 (Larimer) (green shirt), participated in a tour of the Translational Medicine Institute, a high-tech hub bringing together scholars, creators, and entrepreneurs to work in collaborative spaces where innovation thrives. The Institute’s goal is to discover and deliver solutions that utilize the body’s healing capacity and improve the lives of animals and the humans who care for them. 

National Governors Association Summer Meeting  

Amy Goodman, CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy, attended the National Governors Association (NGA) 2025 Summer Meeting July 25-26 on behalf of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).  

Activities included sessions hosted by NGA Chair Governor Polis, accented by a discussion with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about Make America Healthy Again, a hard-hitting discussion with entrepreneur Mark Cuban who criticized pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and insurers, a discussion with U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, and a deep dive into the economy with economists Dr. Jason Furman and Dr. Arthur B. Laffer.  

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s discussion with U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about Make America Healthy Again largely trod familiar ground. Governors then asked questions of the Secretary on a wide range of topics, including HHS priorities, federal-state partnership, nutrition, preventive care, rural health care, and more. Perhaps the most controversial part was when Governor Polis had a pointed exchange with Secretary Kennedy about peanut allergies, other allergies, and aluminum adjuvants in vaccines (see 36:00-40:49 in the video). 

Governor Polis’ discussion with entrepreneur Mark Cuban primarily focused on the potential of advanced technologies like AI to impact education, but Polis also took the opportunity to ask Cuban, who founded the online pharmacy Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, which “cut[s] out the middlemen to offer hundreds of common (and often life saving) drugs at understandable prices,” about healthcare (starting at 18:40 in the video). More specifically, Polis asked, “If you were a state, what should we be asking or doing? How can we drive efficiency and change as Governors?” In response, Cuban delivered a scathing diatribe against PBMs and insurers: 

19:20 — “If you’re working with the big pharmacy benefit managers for your employee benefits, you’re getting ripped off.” 

19:34 — “this is self-serving—ask them to add costplusddrugs.com to your network. Now, I know our prices are lower, but it’s an exercise when you ask them to add cost plusddrugs.com…I’ll tell you without even knowing who your PBM is—they won’t do it because they know they’re overcharging you.” 

20:24 — “…if the pharmacy benefits you get for your state have a specialty tier—a tier of drugs called specialty—you’re getting ripped off.”  

21:57 — “…if there’s co-insurance, there’s a problem, right? Because they’re using co-insurance to try to extract more money from the patient…They’ll try to charge 25% or more…Your people can’t afford it.”  

22:32 — “…And let’s talk about how deductibles are put in the plans that you select. Think about what the insurance companies do. The insurance companies define the plan that you guys choose from, right? They decide the premium that your folks choose from. Then they decide the deductible. And the higher the deductible, the more it’s beneficial to them because fewer people can afford the deductible. Think about the average deductible in your state. That’s the number you should know. Is it $2,500? Depending on the program, is it $5,000? Then ask yourself, how many people can afford a $2,500 deductible when most people don’t have $400 in the bank? And what happens downstream from that? Well, if the if the patient can’t afford the deductible, they’re probably not going to get the care or they’re going to the emergency room and it’s costing you more. But now the insurance company loves it because they’re not paying anything out of pocket. But it gets worse. They go to the hospital and the hospital gives them credit to try to get them to give them the care so they can collect from the insurance company. And those plans have turned all of your hospitals in your state into subprime lenders. And that’s what causes our healthcare and the pharmacy side and the healthcare side to collapse because from the insurance companies and their associated PBMs, they’re extracting every bit of revenue. They’re controlling every bit of the financial side of healthcare and you have no control. And when you go and approve their plans from the big insurance companies and when you go and approve the pharmacy benefit plans from the PBMs, you’re getting ripped off. I will absolutely positively guarantee it.” 

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To get involved with CBSA’s advocacy efforts, please contact CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy, Amy Goodman.