Biotech bigwigs and venture capitalists gathered atop Bellevue Towers Monday for an unofficial launch of the annual Life Science Innovation Northwest conference, which takes place in Seattle this week.

New to the convention this year is a delegation from China brought in to discuss trade and promotion with that country.

The conference takes place Tuesday and Wednesday at Seattle’s Bell Harbor International Conference Center.

Much of gathering will work like a science fair, with emerging companies revealing their latest ideas and pitching business plans to investors.

Representatives from some of the region’s most successful life sciences companies – Seattle Genetics, Dendreon, ZymoGenetics, OncoGeniX and Omeros – will also discuss the pathway to taking companies public.

Chris Rivera, president of the Washington Biotech and Biomedicine Association (WBBA), said it’s time to get Washington back to where it was 10 years ago, before California-based AMGen bought Immunex and pulled most of that company’s operations out of Seattle.

“There’s really a lot of neat innovation here, and we need to make sure the world is aware of that,” he said.

Rivera said there are six areas where the Northwest should concentrate on being a life sciences leader: immunology, oncology, medical devices, informatics, animal medicine, and biofuels.

Bellevue College this year began offering certification in one of those areas with an 18-credit informatics program designed for students with an information technology background.

Rivera said some of the greatest potential in life sciences lies in preventing and treating the health problems that affect developing countries disproportionately.

“We need to foster innovation and get it to populations where it can have an impact,” he said.

As with nearly all forms of trade, there is also great potential for growth in the fast-emerging markets of Russia, China and India, Rivera said.

One popular topic of conversation at Monday’s networking party was policy. Industry leaders are calling for more funding for early-stage development from the state and federal governments, both of which are strapped for cash these days.

The WBBA is pressing for tax incentives to reward research and development, as well as early investments in start-up companies.

The group is also asking the state to restore investments in the Life Sciences Discovery Fund – which supports research in the state – and is cautioning against cuts in higher education.

Bob Nelson, co-founder and managing director of Arch Venture Partners, said he is worried about a proposed business-and-occupation tax on investment income in Washington.

“That would be truly catastrophic for investors,” he said. “It’ll cause everyone to up and leave the state.

“I think legislators are passing things without a lot of forethought because they’re in such a panic about the budget. It’s a very fragile infrastructure (for life-sciences development) in this state, and it needs to be enhanced proactively, not penalized.”

On the federal level, industry leaders are rallying against a proposed medical devise excise tax that they say would cripple that sector.

Nelson said he is also wary of proposed health-care reform.

“We’re supportive of health care for everyone, we just want to make sure the new policies don’t stifle innovation,” he said.

Investors in recent months have been slow to make moves with life sciences companies because of uncertainty surrounding health-care reform.

“That will be the biggest dictator of change in our industry,” Nelson said. “We’re in a period of limbo where we don’t really know what’s going to happen.”