BIO-Europe Spring(R) 2008 to Feature Biotech´s Biggest Names to Explore the Hottest Issues in the Industry

EBD Group today announced that BIO-Europe Spring 2008, April 7-9,
2008 in Palacio Municipal de Congresos, Madrid, Spain, will turn out
many of world´s most renowned names in the biotech industry to
confront the key issues affecting the industry´s future. With an
anticipated 1,450 participants, BIO-Europe Spring 2008 is expected to
one of the most productive and content-rich partnering conferences of
2008.

Key program highlights of BIO-Europe Spring 2008 include:

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-- There must be a better way - how to increase productivity with new
clinical development strategies. Moderated by Barbara Kosacz, Partner
and Head of Life Sciences Practice, Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, this
plenary session delves into effects of the rapid changes within the
global drug development industry. While big pharma is trying to
reinvent itself with R&D and in-licensing operations that are more
nimble, decisive and entrepreneurial in character, private equity,
specialty pharma, and mid-tier pharma are also looking to acquire and
develop the most promising phase II assets. This discussion will help
answer who will emerge as the dominant force in this competition for
assets. How will biotech companies position themselves to work with a
growing variety of potential partners or acquirers, and will they be
suppliers to- or competitors of Big Pharma in the future?
-- Out-Licensing - Why Big-Pharma is so reluctant to partner out and
why they shouldn´t be. Not many Big Pharma players are very proactive
in out-licensing, however some of them seem to revive out-bound
partnering activities recently and there are more and more examples
of successful deals and out-licensed compounds reaching the market.
Shelved compounds from Big Pharma can still be of high interest to
small companies and Specialty Pharma. Investors would like to fund
more out-licensing deals, but the originators often want to keep
their stake in the asset. This workshop features panellists Dr. Ellen
Strahlman, Vice President, Licensing, Worldwide Business Development,
Pfizer, Inc. and Juergen Heitmann, Head of Out-licensing, Novartis
Pharma, and will provide insights into creative deal structuring to
allow both partners to identify sufficient value in a deal and to
avoid regrets later on.
-- Deal Timing: Understanding the Indicators of When to Do a Deal and
Choosing the Optimal Point in Time for Your Compound. Why does a deal
occur at a given point in a compound´s development plan? The answer
is different for each compound. For licensing executives, the
question of when to complete a deal can be a difficult one.
Executives typically look for a product´s "sweet spot" - the point in
time at which risk and financial reward are equally balanced.
This interactive panel moderated by Ben Bonifant, VP, Business
Development Practice, Campbell Alliance, and featuring Dr. Vincent
Mutel, CEO, Addex Pharmaceuticals and Michael A. Margolis, Vice
President, Investment Banking, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC will review
timing trends over the past year and analyze the indicators for when
a deal might or should occur. Learn from personal experiences shared
by those who have made--or helped make--the decision of when to do a
deal.
-- The Secret Life of CEOs. Mike Ward, Senior Editor, BioCentury
Publications Inc. will lead a panel of successful CEOs, including
Bernard Gilly, FOVEA Pharmaceuticals SA; Dr. Bart Wuurman, AM-Pharma
BV; Dr. Christian Rohlff, Oxford Genome Sciences Ltd; and, Dr. Rainer
Wessel, Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, who will give an insight into
what it really means to be in charge of a biotech company today. What
are the most important skills for a CEO to have and where can he/she
learn them? And what experiences from their lives outside biotech
have helped them run their companies?
Issues that they will consider will include what was the biggest
surprise that they had when they were promoted and what is still
surprising them today? What are the challenges that CEOs face every
day and what are the issues that keep them up at night?
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Other workshops and panels include:

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-- The Pharma Excitement Over RNAi and Antisense Technology
-- Beyond Targeted Therapeutics - How will Pharma Value the next
Generation of Oncology Companies
-- Alzheimer´s Partnerships - the Valuation Dilemma
-- Regenerative Medicine: Evaluating the Hype, the Hope and the
Reality
-- Creating Value in the Young Life Science Company
-- Europe: Turning Ambition into Business
-- Why should BD care about Translational Medicine?
-- Global Partnering - Building (or Stumbling) Blocks of International
Licensing
-- Clusters´ Cooperation: Benefits for Companies
-- Developing a Globalization Strategy - what small Biotech can learn
from Big Pharma
-- Bio-similars: Risk taking vs. Caution?
-- Funding Early Stage Deals in Europe
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Notes to Editors:

Entry to BIO-Europe Spring(R) 2008 is free to the media, including
full access to the partnering system, sessions, press conferences,
workshops, and pre-arranged partnering meetings. Visit the BIO-Europe
Spring conference website at http://www.ebdgroup.com/bes/press_reg.htm
for detailed information on this year´s conference and online
registration. When you register online, please indicate in the comment
field that you are requesting a complimentary press registration.
Please fax a copy of your press pass to complete your complimentary
media registration to fax number +49 (89) 23 88 756 55.

About BIO-Europe Spring 2008

The BIO-Europe Spring(R) event brings together international
decision-makers from all sectors of the biotechnology industry, and
features the successful combination of one-to-one meetings, company
presentations, panel discussions and a lively exhibition.

Positioned as the springtime counterpart to EBD Group´s flagship
conference, BIO-Europe, the BIO-Europe Spring event continues the
tradition of providing life science companies with high caliber
partnering opportunities. The event enables biotechnology companies to
identify, meet and network with companies across the life sciences
value-chain from large biotech and pharma companies to financiers and
innovative start-ups.

About EBD Group

EBD Group is the leading partnering firm for the global
biotechnology industry. Since 1993, firms in the life sciences 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) include BIO-Europe, the world´s largest stand-alone life
science partnering conference (co-organized with BIO); BIO-Europe
Spring(R); and BioEquity Europe (co-organized with BioCentury
Publications and BIO). EBD´s novel, web-based, partnering service
partneringONE(TM) 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 USA
and Europe.

For more information visit www.ebdgroup.com