Health minister Greg Hunt has been in Boston for BIO20018 to discuss Australia's commitment to research and development.
The US-based industry listened politely but might be more interested in his views on the PBS damages court cases.
Mr Hunt spoke at the conference in recent days. He was interviewed by Bio's executive vice president of international affairs, Joseph Damond, and took questions from the audience.
Mr Damond is a former US trade negotiator. He was also a senior executive at PhRMA during negotiation of the bilateral US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. He has extensive knowledge of Australia, the PBS, and has been a leading figure in US-based advocacy against PBS damages cases pursued by the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth has settled its case against AstraZeneca in relation to rosuvastatin.
The Federal Court has heard the case in relation to Sanofi's clopidogrel and a judgement is expected this year. It is currently hearing the case involving Pfizer's venlafaxine. The Commonwealth is involved as a party to a case involving Otsuka and Bristol-Myers Squibb's aripiprazole.
Other cases are expected to follow.