131 Life Science Companies Featured at BIO VentureForum 2002
Washington, D.C. (September 18, 2002) - The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today released a list of 131 biotechnology companies chosen to present at BIO VentureForum 2002. The companies were selected from a pool of more than 350 applicants by an advisory board comprised of the top 41 health-care venture firms. This list is a cross section of privately held companies looking for various stages of investment support. Last year’s VentureForum showcased 93 companies from around the world and resulted in more than $400 million in biotech investments.
The presenting companies, representing 25 states and 6 countries, with California companies dominating the lineup, are developing therapeutics, vaccines and treatments for 61 diseases, with an emphasis on cancer and infectious diseases.
BIO VentureForum 2002 will be held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on October 1-2. With the launch of biotech pioneer Genentech 25 years ago, San Francisco is considered the birthplace of the industry. The Bay Area remains the largest biotech hotbed in California with 67 companies that employ more than 34,000 people, and which generated $7.4 billion in revenues during 2001. Biotech companies in the Bay Area also developed 30 of the 140 biotech drugs on the market today.
“The caliber of presenting companies at BIO VentureForum is unmatched,” said Morrie Ruffin, vice president of business development and emerging companies for BIO. “In one year the event has grown into the largest international investor conference for venture-stage biotech product and technology companies. BIO VentureForum spotlights investment-worthy opportunities from around the globe, and enables entrepreneurs and investors to develop relationships that will continue to boost biotech innovation.”
For more information on BIO VentureForum 2002, please visit www.bio.org. Press registration is complimentary for credentialed members of the news media. Advance press registration closes on September 27. Press releases, conference updates and registration information are posted in the “Media” section of the conference Web site.
BIO VentureForum 2002 advisory board members include: Abingworth Management, Academy Funds, Advent International, Agilent Venture Funds, Alloy Ventures, A.M. Pappas & Associates, Alta Partners, ASM Resources, Atlas Venture, BioAsia Investments, Burrill & Company, CalPERS, Delphi Ventures, Domain Associates, Emerging Technology Partners, Enterprise Partners, Equity4Health, Forward Ventures, Frazier & Company, InterWest Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, JPMorgan Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures, MPM Capital, New Enterprise Associates, NeuroVentures Capital, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Pacific Growth Equities, Perseus-Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund, Prospect Venture Partners, Quaker BioVentures, Sanderling, Skyline Ventures, Sofinnova Ventures, Sprout Group, TVM Techno Venture Management, Venrock Associates, Ventana Capital Management, Versant Ventures, and Warburg Pincus.
BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.
BIO VentureForum 2002 Presenting Companies*
| Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Connecticut) | IatroQuest Corporation (Canada) |
| Acologix, Inc. (California) | Immunicon Corporation (Pennsylvania) |
| ActivBiotics, Inc. (Massachusetts) | Intronn, Inc. (Maryland) |
| ActivePass Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Canada) | Iomai Corporation (Maryland) |
| ActivX Biosciences, Inc. (California) | Ipsat Therapies Oy/Ltd. (Finland) |
| Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Illinois) | Iris AO, Inc. (California) |
| Addiction Therapies, Inc. (Massachusetts) | Koronis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Washington) |
| ADERIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Massachusetts) | Libraria, Inc. (California) |
| Advanced Life Sciences, Inc. (Illinois) | LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Montana) |
| AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (California) | Lipocine, Inc. (Utah) |
| Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (California) | MAT Biotech, Inc. (Massachusetts) |
| AnVil, Inc. (Massachusetts) | MaxCyte, Inc. (Maryland) |
| Aptus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Maryland) | Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (Massachusetts) |
| ARYx Therapeutics, Inc. (California) | Message Pharmaceuticals (Pennsylvania) |
| Aspira Biosystems, Inc. (California) | Metabasis Therapeutics, Inc. (California) |
| Astral, Inc. (California) | MIICRO, Inc. (Illinois) |
| Auilix Biopharma, Inc. (California) | MithraGen, Inc. (Texas) |
| Aureon Biosciences Corporation (New York) | NanoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Michigan) |
| AVIVA Biosciences Corporation (California) | Nanostream, Inc. (California) |
| AXOVAN AG (Switzerland) | NEOKIMIA, Inc. (Canada) |
| B3io (California) | Nephros Therapeutics, Inc. (Rhode Island) |
| Bionaut Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Massachusetts) | Neurogenetics, Inc. (California) |
| Biophysica Science, Inc. (California) | NeuroMed Technologies, Inc. (Canada) |
| BioSeek, Inc. (California) | Neuronyx, Inc. (Pennsylvania) |
| BioStratum Incorporated (North Carolina) | NewBiotics, Inc. (California) |
| Biosyn, Inc. (Pennsylvania) | Nimblegen Systems, Inc. (Wisconsin) |
| Biota, Inc. (California) | Norak Biosciences, Inc. (North Carolina) |
| BIOVITRUM AB (Sweden) | Novasite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (California) |
| CancerVax Corporation (California) | Nucleonics, Inc. (Pennsylvania) |
| CardioProfile, Inc. (California) | Nyxis Neurotherapies, Inc. (Illinois) |
| CEPTYR, Inc. (Washington) | Perlegen Sciences, Inc. (California) |
| Ceregene, Inc. (California) | PhageTech, Inc. (Canada) |
| Cerylid Biosciences Ltd. (Australia) | Phenomix Corporation (California) |
| ChemCodes, Inc. (North Carolina) | Phytobiotech, Inc. (Canada) |
| ChemoCentryx, Inc. (California) | Picoliter, Inc. (California) |
| Chronogen, Inc. (Canada) | Plexxikon (California) |
| CombiMatrix Corporation (Washington) | PPL Therapeutics plc (Virginia) |
| Combinature Biopharm AG (Germany) | PS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (California) |
| Conforma Therapeutics Corporation (California) | Psynomics, Inc. (California) |
| Consensus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Massachusetts) | Quorex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (California) |
| Copernicus Therapeutics, Inc. (Ohio) | Raven Biotechnologies, Inc. (California) |
| Cyternex, Inc. (California) | Receptron, Inc. (California) |
| DiaDexus, Inc. (California) | ReGen Biologics, Inc. (New Jersey) |
| DirectGene, Inc. (Maryland) | Rejuvenon Corporation (Texas) |
| Divergence, Inc. (Missouri) | REPLICor, Inc. (Canada) |
| Echelon Biosciences, Inc. (Utah) | Ribonomics, Inc. (North Carolina) |
| Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Massachusetts) | Santarus, Inc. (California) |
| EmerGen, Inc. (Utah) | Scimagix, Inc. (California) |
| EpiCept Corporation (New Jersey) | Sention, Inc. (Rhode Island) |
| Epicyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (California) | Signature BioScience, Inc. (California) |
| Epigenomics AG (Germany) | Structural GenomiX, Inc. (California) |
| Exhale Therapeutics, Inc. (California) | SurroMed, Inc. (California) |
| EXIMIAS Pharmaceutical Corporation (Pennsylvania) | Syrrx, Inc. (California) |
| Favrille, Inc. (California) | Tao Biosciences, LLC (California) |
| First Circle Medical, Inc. (Minnesota) | Target Discovery, Inc. (California) |
| Functional Genetics, Inc. (Maryland) | Targeted Molecules Corporation (California) |
| Gene Networks (California) | Transave, Inc. (New Jersey) |
| GeneEx, Inc. (Florida) | TransMolecular, Inc. (Alabama) |
| GeneFormatics, Inc. (California) | Triad Therapeutics, Inc. (California) |
| Genoptix, Inc. (California) | U.S. Genomics (Massachusetts) |
| GenPhar, Inc. (South Carolina) | U3 Pharma AG (Germany) |
| Genteric, Inc. (California) | Vaccinex, Inc. (New York) |
| Gryphon Sciences (California) | Virtual Arrays, Inc. (California) |
| Guava Technologies, Inc. (California) | Xenogen Corporation (California) |
| Hawaii Biotech, Inc. (Hawaii) | Ximerex, Inc. (Nebraska) |
*Confirmed companies as of September 18, 2002. | |