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Contact: Jocelyn Sese
Council for Entrepreneurial Development
jsese@cednc.org

919-549-7500 ext.119
FAX: 919-549-7405
www.cednc.org

Eight Research Triangle Companies Selected to Present at SEBIO

November 8, 2002, Research Triangle Park, NC - Organizers of the Southeastern Biotechnology Investors Conference (SEBIO) recently announced its presenter selections for its 4th annual forum, to be held December 4-5 in Atlanta, and eight out of the seventeen companies hail from the Research Triangle. SEBIO is the Southeast's première life sciences investment conference. CED serves as an SEBIO organizational sponsor.

"SEBIO is one of the best in the nation for life sciences investors," says CED president Monica Doss. "The strength and caliber of the entire collection of companies is a testament to the excellence of the southeastern biotech sector, and CED is pleased to see the strong representation from the Research Triangle."

The eight companies from the Research Triangle chosen to present are:

  • AlphaVax, Inc. (RTP, NC) develops and manufactures preventive and therapeutic vaccines and is initiating clinical trials for an HIV clade C vaccine for a therapeutic HIV vaccine, CMV, breast cancer and malaria. www.alphavax.com
  • Athenix Corp. (RTP, NC) provides novel genetic solutions for the agricultural, energy and chemical feedstock industries by discovering unique input and output traits and developing these traits into products. www.athenixcorp.com
  • Cropsolution, Inc. (Morrisville, NC) discovers and develops chemicals to protect crops from diseases, weeds and insect pests through its Evolution Chemistry TM technology. www.cropsolution.com
  • Icagen, Inc. (RTP, NC) discovers and develops small molecule therapeutics targeted toward ion channel using its proprietary platform technology. www.icagen.com
  • Incellico (RTP, NC) breaks the informatics bottleneck with CELLTM, the only commercially available platform that enables scientists to automate their expert data analysis processes in a high-throughput manner. www.incellico.com
  • Norak Biosciences (RTP, NC) utilizes its proprietary TransfluorTM technology in the discovery and development of drugs that regular g protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). www.norakbio.com
  • Regado Biosciences (Durham, NC) is developing the first generation of therapeutics able to be regulated.
  • Serenex (RTP, NC) utilizes proprietary and powerful technologies that enable the rationalization of proteomics for the acceleration of drug discovery. www.serenex.com

An additional sixteen companies were chosen to participate in Early Stage Interactive, a new conference program designed to provide early market feedback and mentoring to pre-investment companies as they begin to raise institutional funds. Raleigh's ADMETech and Durham's Phase Bio will represent North Carolina in this portion of the program.

"We are very pleased to have a record number of applications this year," said Doug Gooding, SEBIO 2002 Selection Committee Chair. "The final group is an excellent representation of the growth of the life sciences industry in the southeast, and comes from a wide variety of industry segments, including drug discovery, agricultural biotechnology, vaccines, medical devices, and gene therapy. While all of the companies selected to present have received some institutional funding, they represent a variety of points in the funding life cycle."

Companies from elsewhere in the southeast that will present:

Chaired by Doug Gooding of the Aurora Funds, the SEBIO 2002 Selection Committee includes professional venture capitalists from throughout the southeast. In addition to company presentations, the conference will feature a variety of speakers noted for their experience in the life sciences industry, including Tony White, CEO of Applera Corporation, and Jan Leschly, Partner with Care Capital and former CEO of SmithKline Beecham. This year, SEBIO will be held December 4-5 in Atlanta, GA. SEBIO 2003 will be held in the Research Triangle, and dates and locations have yet to be determined.

About SEBIO
SEBIO is an annual conference organized by the Southeastern Life Sciences Association (SELSA), comprised of seven states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). The annual conference is for Southeastern high-growth life sciences companies and regional, national, and international investors. SEBIO's audience consists of leading biotechnology executives, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investment bankers, and other industry professionals. For more about SEBIO, go to www.sebio.org.

About SELSA
The Southeastern Life Sciences Association (SELSA) is a public/private partnership formed in 1999 to promote the growth of the life sciences economy in the Southeast. SELSA is committed to developing programs and events to further that goal, including the Southeastern BIO Investor Forum (SEBIO). Today, the Southeast is recognized as one of the fastest growing life sciences regions in the United States, and home to more than 350 life sciences companies.

About CED
CED is a nonprofit organization established in 1984 to encourage and assist entrepreneurs in developing high-growth businesses, and to enhance North Carolina's prominence as a center for high-impact business opportunities. CED's members include businesses, investors, professional firms, and other organizations that actively aid entrepreneurs in developing high-growth business ventures throughout the area. For more information, visit CED's website at www.cednc.org.

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