Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in January, after news of the earthquake in Haiti. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

By Bruce Japsen | A much-touted Chicago appearance of former
Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will not be open to the public or the press after all. The appearance will be at a joint keynote address next
Tuesday at the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s annual meeting.

A separate keynote speech by former Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday
will also be closed to the public and the media. The speeches are sponsored
by some of the biggest pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the
world.

“The convention has never been for the general public,” said Jeff
Joseph, spokesman for BIO, a Washington-based lobby for the biotech
industry. “It is, and always has been a business meeting.”

Still, the meeting will be well attended by media, as well as government officials around the world who seek publicity for their companies and their products. The event is expected to draw an international community of more than 15,000 biotech industry leaders.

The Bush-Clinton joint appearance had taken on more interest after the pair abruptly cancelled a February stage they were to share at Radio City Music Hall. The two canceled that event because of a “violation of contract and a promoter who insisted on billing it as something it wasn’t,” a Clinton spokesman said after the cancellation.

It is unclear who will get to hear the speeches. Gore’s keynote address is sponsored by California-based biotech giant Amgen Inc. Johnson & Johnson is the sponsor for the keynotes of Clinton and Bush. Fees paid to Gore, Clinton and Bush are not being disclosed.
 
Neither Baxter International Inc. or Abbott Laboratories would comment on the decision to keep the media from the keynote speeches. Chief Executives from Baxter and Abbott are co-chairs of the event.