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CEO & Investor Conference Expected to Attract 1,500 Biotech Leaders and Investors

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 22, 2000) - The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will host the third annual CEO & Investor Conference, "Investing in Biotechnology: The Value, The Risks, The Rewards," in New York February 20-21, 2001, at the Waldorf Astoria.

Featured lunch speakers are Drs. Nathan Myhrvold and Richard Klausner. Myhrvold is co-president and co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, a venture investment firm specializing in technology and biotechnology industries. He is the former chief technology officer at Microsoft Corporation where he worked for 14 years. Klausner is director of the National Cancer Institute. He is well known for his research in cell and molecular biology and previously served as the chief of cell biology and metabolism at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

"Last year's conference was a remarkable, much talked-about success, drawing close to 1,200 people," said BIO President Carl B. Feldbaum. "Our upcoming conference is expected to attract an even larger group of investors, biotech leaders and news media. Biotechnology has enjoyed a boom year on Wall Street and the companies leading this surge will be attending our conference along with those biotech companies just emerging.

"There are more than 100 biotech drugs and vaccines on the market today, reaching more than one-quarter billion people worldwide. Many of these individuals formerly suffered from debilitating or life-threatening diseases. The biotech product pipeline is fuller than ever. Consider that more biotech therapies have come on the market in the last four years than the previous fifteen years combined. We want investors to understand the inherent, fast-growing value of biotechnology. That's the primary goal of BIO's CEO & Investor Conference," added Feldbaum.

About 1,500 attendees, including biotech company executives and investors, are expected at the two-day event. More than 250 CEOs are expected to participate in the 12 investor sessions, 6 CEO roundtables and more than 70 company presentations scheduled during the conference. In addition, there will be an international industry reception and bartop exhibition, which last year attracted more than 750 attendees and 40 exhibitors.

Investor sessions, hosted by top investment banks and moderated by leading analysts, will focus on specific disease areas or discovery technologies. The interactive CEO roundtables will highlight "issues to watch" affecting industry growth and individual company health. CEOs will share their experiences regarding industry consolidation, alternative capital sources, growth strategies and protection of intellectual property.

For more information on the CEO & Investor Conference 2001, please visit our Web site, www.InvestInBio.com.

BIO represents more than 900 biotech companies, academic institutions and state biotech centers in all 50 U.S. states and in 26 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

Editor's Note: Press registration is complimentary for credentialedmembers of the news media. Registration, press releases and other conference information are available in the "Media" section of the Web site, www.InvestInBio.com. Call Carrie Housman at BIO (202-962-9200) with any questions.