MountainWest Venture Group to Honor Peter D. Meldrum, President and CEO of Myriad Genetics, as 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year

Business Wire, Jan 14, 2002

Business Editors

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2002

Meldrum to Speak at 15th Annual Awards Ceremony

February 6, 2002 at The Canyons Resort

MountainWest Venture Group (MWVG) announced today that it will honor Peter D. Meldrum, president and CEO of Myriad Genetics, Inc., as the 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year. Meldrum will be the keynote speaker at the 15th annual MWVG awards ceremony on Wednesday, February 6, 2002 at the Grand Summit Hotel at The Canyons Resort in Park City.

Myriad Genetics, located in the University of Utah's Research Park in Salt Lake City, is a leading biopharmaceutical company that has developed a broad pipeline of novel drugs to treat human diseases such as prostate cancer, colon cancer, AIDS and rheumatoid arthritis. Meldrum was instrumental in the founding of Myriad Genetics, and has been involved in the founding of several other biotechnology companies including Pharmadigm Biosciences, Sonic Innovations, Cognetix, Inc. and Acacia Biosciences (now Rosetta Inpharmatics).

Prior to joining Myriad in 1992, Meldrum was president and CEO of Founders Fund, Inc., a venture capital group, and was a member of the Governor's Council of Science and Technology and chaired the Governor's Advisory Board concerning the regulation of the biotechnology industry in Utah. He was awarded the Governor's Medal for Science and Technology in 1998.

"In selecting the entrepreneur to be honored, MountainWest Venture Group identifies potential nominees, evaluates credentials and achievements, and selects one individual who personifies a visionary entrepreneur who has built a Utah-based company," said Tom Taylor, chairman of this year's Entrepreneur of the Year event and a partner in the Salt Lake City office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP. "Meldrum is just such a visionary who has inspired others to participate in the risks and rewards of building successful companies, and who has remained personally involved in seeing those ventures flourish."

MountainWest Venture Group's Entrepreneur of the Year program is held each year in conjunction with the Wayne Brown Institute's Investor's Choice West Venture Capital Conference. Past recipients of the Entrepreneur of the Year award include Dr. Hunter Jackson (NPS Pharmaceuticals); David Evans (Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.); Ray Noorda (Novell); Dale Ballard (Ballard Medical Products); and Dr. Dinesh Patel (TheraTech).

For More Information

Editors should contact Suzanne Kimball, vice president of public relations for MountainWest Venture Group, (801) 294-4779, ext. 1, suzkimball@aol.com. Additional information on Myriad Genetics can be found at http://www.myriad.com. Please see the MountainWest Venture Group's Web site at www.mwvg.org for more information on the group and its upcoming events.

Founded in 1983, MountainWest Venture Group is a non-profit organization that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and professional service providers through one of the most respected business networks in the state of Utah. Based in Salt Lake City, the group is the sponsor of the annual Utah 100 Awards, the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Utah Deal Flow Report. The group is comprised of a broad mix of business executives, venture capital providers, attorneys, bankers, accountants, consultants, and educators.