DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS TO PRESENT AT BIO VENTUREFORUM 2001 IS JULY 31, 2001

Washington, D.C. (July 23, 2001) The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) will accept applications for the first annual BIO VentureForum until close of business, Tuesday, July 31. BIO VentureForum 2001 is scheduled for October 3-4, 2001, in Washington, D.C. The premier venture event is the only international conference in the biotech industry to bring successful venture conference strategies from the technology sector to health and life sciences companies.

BIO VentureForum expects to introduce 75-100 biotech product and technology firms seeking seed and early-stage funding, as well as select pre-IPO companies. The final number of presenting companies will be determined after screening by the forum’s Advisory Board, which includes some of the industry’s most renowned technologists, venture capitalists, business leaders and private investors. Selected entrepreneurs will attend regional BIO VentureForum Boot Camps in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., where they will receive intensive coaching and refine their presentations and business plans.

“For more than a decade BIO has been actively involved in establishing economic and political inroads that support the development of biotechnology products and solutions,” said BIO Vice President Morrie Ruffin. “Based on our success record, I am confident that BIO VentureForum 2001 will deliver the highest concentration of qualified biotech investment opportunities in a single location this year.”

BIO VentureForum 2001 application information is available on the Web at www.bioventureforum.net.

About 1,000 attendees are expected at the two-day event, which will be co-located with the Technology Council of Maryland’s BioAlliance Forum and annual meeting (www.mdhitech.org). BioAlliance programming will provide BIO VentureForum 2001 attendees with valuable industry information, competitive insights from industry analysts, and the opportunity to consult with successful CEOs and industry leaders. The events will be held at the Hilton Washington and Towers, located at 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.

BIO VentureForum 2001 Advisory Board Members include representatives of Academy Funds; Advent International Corp.; Alta Partners; Atlas Venture, Inc.; Birchmere Ventures; Burrill & Company; Delphi Ventures; Domain Associates, L.L.C.; Emerging Technology Partners, L.L.C.; Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.; InterSouth; InterWest; Maryland Health Care Product Development Corporation; Mason Wells Biomedical Fund; MPM Capital; National Capital Companies, L.L.C.; NeuroVentures; NextGen Capital, L.L.C.; Oxford Biosciences Partners; Perseus/Soros BioPharmaceutical Fund L.L.C.; Potomac BioScience Venture Fund; ProQuest Investments; S.R. One, Ltd.; Sofinnova Ventures, Inc.; Tenex Medical Investors; The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship; The Kaufmann Fund, Inc.; TVM Techno Venture Management; and Venrock Associates.

BIO Venture Forum 2001 Partners include the Technology Council of Maryland, NASDAQ, the National Venture Capital Association and the Washington Business Journal.

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.