The 2007 BIO International Convention kicks off this weekend in Boston. Nice weather is expected, but it won't match the sunny outlook inside the gigantic Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. All industry trade shows are cheer-fests, of course, but the biotech crowd tends to be particularly self-congratulatory for a few reasons: The industry drives economic growth in high-profile cities, it makes medicines that save lives, and for at least a handful of firms, it's tremendously profitable, making it seductive for high-risk investors.

Beyond the celebrity keynotes — Michael J. Fox, Queen Noor of Jordan — the conference is the venue for consulting firm Ernst & Young's annual state-of-the industry report, the theme invariably being that business is booming and industrywide profits are just around the corner. Visitors will have to pick through the side-room sessions to find serious discussions on ethics, agricultural tampering, price controls and the need for generic competition, all of which make for more complicated skies, not the blue ones the industry prefers shine over their convention.

Plenty of panels will dissect every aspect of dealmaking, from venture seed funding to licensing to M&A to integration issues, but it's not as fabled a venue as the J.P. Morgan investment conference in San Francisco every January. More than 20,000 are expected to attend, so it will be hard enough to grab a taxi, let alone a quiet space to talk business. But the Boston area is second only to Northern California in biotech presence, and the entire city will be awash with scientists, executives, academicians and, of course, reporters. Stay tuned for regular updates. —Alex Lash