[February 10, 2012]

Investment community to come out in full force at BIO-Europe Spring® 2012

Biopharm is gearing up for BIO-Europe Spring®, EBD Group's springtime life science partnering conference in Amsterdam March 19-21, 2012 at the Amsterdam RAI Convention Center. BIO-Europe Spring attracts some of the best and brightest biotech companies in the sector, and the venture capital community has realized this opportunity by increasing their presence with more representatives this year. Venture capital firms including Aescap Venture, FORBION Capital Partners, Forward Ventures, Merck Serono Ventures, MPM Capital, and Novartis Venture Fund are eager to meet with biotech companies to explore business opportunities and to be a part of the action.

In addition to venture capital firms, BIO-Europe Spring is expecting an impressive array of pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott, Almirall, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Baxter, Bayer Healthcare, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Merck Serono, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Shire, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

"A strong turnout is expected at BIO-Europe Spring this year, with senior executives of leading biotech companies and delegations of business development teams from large and midsize pharmaceutical companies eager to enhance their mutual interests for in-licensing and new product development," said Carola Schropp, President, EBD Group. "Biotech companies see this event as a critical dealmaking opportunity, and venture capital firms perceive the high quality of the presentations and attendees, and want to join in. The Netherlands offers an ideal location for the conference with their world-class life science cluster."

"BIO-Europe Spring provides a strategic opportunity for us to maximize our exposure to emerging life science companies and novel research ideas," said Sander Slootweg, Managing Partner at FORBION Capital Partners based in The Netherlands. "The opportunity to network with the global biotech sector and biopharma is quite compelling. We seek to invest strategically in research and development of promising compounds and devices, and feel our involvement in the conference is important to creating business relationships."

"We are very pleased to have the global life science and investment communities converge upon Amsterdam, one of the historical hotbeds of life sciences and venture capital, this spring," said Hakan Goker, Principal at Aescap Venture. "As a pan-European focused early stage venture firm, this well regarded event allows us to touch base with our colleagues in pharma, biotech and finance, to create and feed new ideas that hopefully will become the new successes of Europe."

This year, over 10,000 one-to-one meetings will be held during the three-day conference. Seventy exhibitors will showcase their offerings across the life science value chain. In addition, more than 2,000 delegates from over 45 countries will have the opportunity to view 120 company presentations and attend 17 workshops and panels, where industry leaders spak about the latest trends. Online registration will close on March 16, 2012 at 13:00 CET. Information can be found at http://www.ebdgroup.com/bes.

For more information about BIO-Europe Spring, go to www.ebdgroup.com/bes/index.php.

Additional links and information:

partnering360: www.partnering360.com

Follow BIO-Europe Spring 2012 on Twitter (News - Alert): twitter.com/EBDgroup (hashtag: #BES12)

LinkedIn (News - Alert) Event site: http://linkd.in/uA0L0x

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry. Since 1993, biotech, pharma and medical device companies have leveraged EBD Group's partnering conferences, technology and services to identify business opportunities and develop strategic relationships essential to their success.

EBD Group's conferences are run with the support of leading corporations and international trade associations and include:

• BIO-Europe® and BIO-Europe Spring®, Europe's largest life science partnering conferences, supported by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)
• BioPharm America™, the fastest growing partnering event in North America
• EuroMedtech™, EBD Group's partnering event for the innovative medical technology industry
• BioEquity Europe, the investor conference co-organized with BioCentury Publications and BIO
• ChinaBio® Partnering Forum, the first dedicated biotech/pharma partnering conference in China, co-produced with ChinaBio® LLC
• Partnering for Global Impact®, a new partnering conference providing an innovative forum to partner, identify and generate social and philanthropic investment and funding opportunities
• Biotech Showcase™, a unique forum in San Francisco for presenting to investors and business development executives, co-produced with Demy-Colton Life Science Advisors

EBD Group's sophisticated web-based partnering service, partneringONE®, is used as the partnering engine at numerous third-party events around the world, and partnering360® is the open online community of life science dealmakers that enhances partnering experiences at industry events.

Outside of the conference format, EBD Group's consultants provide hands-on assistance for firms seeking to in- or out-license products and technologies. EBD Group has offices in the USA and Europe.

For more information please visit www.ebdgroup.com.

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