EBD Group and Business Wire Enter Strategic Alliance

Business Wire, June 18, 2007

CARLSBAD, Calif. & MUNICH, Germany -- EBD Group, the leading partnering firm for the global life sciences industry, today announced a strategic alliance with Business Wire, the world's news distribution leader. Through this alliance, Business Wire becomes the official news distribution service for EBD Group's partnering business, featuring the global life sciences partnering conferences BIO-Europe, BIO-Europe Spring and BioDevice Partnering, in addition to hosting the conferences' online media newsrooms.

"With the growth of our international partnering conferences, more and more companies are leveraging Business Wire as effective public relations platforms for communicating strategic messages to biotech influencers. Working with Business Wire will enhance the experience of our conferences, enabling important conference-generated news and content to reach a worldwide audience," said Carola Schropp, Managing Partner, EBD Group.

"We have been long time sponsors of EBD Group's leading biotech partnering conferences. We are delighted to now become EBD Group's official wire for BIO-Europe, BIO-Europe Spring and BioDevice Partnering," said Leon Harbar, Director of Global Event Services for Business Wire. "Working with EBD Group gives us high visibility across key biotech geographies and provides a proven online service infrastructure through which companies can further showcase their products, services and IP."

Strategic partnering is playing an increasingly important role in the success of both biotech and pharma companies, as well as the industry as a whole. EBD Group's partnering conferences, BIO-Europe (co-organized with the Biotechnology Industry Organization), BIO-Europe Spring, and BioDevice Partnering play a valuable, catalytic role in helping firms across the biotech value chain to forge new partnerships and create new business.

The BIO-Europe event is the world's largest stand-alone biotechnology partnering conference. Almost two thousand global decision-makers from biotechnology, pharma and finance annually attend BIO-Europe to identify new business opportunities and develop strategic relationships. The next edition of BIO-Europe will be held in Hamburg, Germany, November 12-14, 2007.

BIO-Europe Spring, the sister conference to BIO-Europe, is the pre-eminent partnering conference held in the springtime of each year. The next edition of BIO-Europe Spring will be held in Madrid, Spain, April 7-9, 2008.

The previous editions of BIO-Europe and BIO-Europe Spring generated a total of 7,000 and 4,000 partnering meetings, respectively.

BioDevice Partnering is the leading partnering conference focused on expediting the convergence between medtech and biotech. The inaugural event in 2006 gathered a remarkable field of 330 international decision makers from 214 companies representing 21 different countries.

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life sciences industry. Since 1993, numerous firms have leveraged EBD Group's partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships that drive their business.

EBD Group's conferences (run in collaboration with leading industry partners and international trade associations such as BIO and Eucomed) include BIO-Europe, the world's largest stand-alone life science partnering conference; BIO-Europe Spring; the investor conference, BioEquity Europe (co-organized with BioCentury Publications); and the convergent medical technology partnering conference, BioDevice Partnering. EBD Group's novel, web-based, partnering software system is also used at numerous third-party events around the world. Outside of the conference format, EBD Group's consultants can provide hands-on assistance for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies.

EBD Group has offices in San Diego, Munich and London. For more information visit www.ebdgroup.com

About Business Wire

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is utilized by thousands of member companies and organizations to transmit their full-text news releases, regulatory filings, photos and other multimedia content to journalists, news media, trade publications, institutional and individual investors, financial information services, regulatory authorities, Internet portals, information web sites, business-to-business decision-makers and consumers worldwide. With a news distribution network spanning 150 countries and 45 languages, Business Wire's multi-channel delivery network has access to some 60 international and national news agency networks throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The Business Wire news network is powered by its patented NX high-speed data platform and supports XML, XHTML and XBRL code to deliver the most sophisticated news file to enhance news release interactivity, customization and search engine optimization. Business Wire has 30 bureaus in cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Brussels, Tokyo and Sydney with reciprocal offices throughout the world. Business Wire was founded in 1961 by Chairman Lorry I. Lokey, veteran journalist and public relations executive. Cathy Baron Tamraz is president and CEO.