Southeast BIO (SEBIO) and the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) partner to host the first “Southeastern Angel Investors Symposium”

WILMINGTON, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 18, 2005–Southeast BIO (SEBIO) and the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) are partnering to host the first “Southeastern Angel Investors Symposium” at the Seventh Annual Southeastern BIO Investor Forum on December 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Charleston Place Hotel, Charleston, S.C. The SEBIO Investor Forum is the Southeast’s premier life sciences venture capital conference. SEBIO and CED are presenting the Angel Investors Symposium in conjunction with Charleston Angel Partners and the Florida Angel Investment Alliance.

The Angel Investors Symposium will offer networking and educational opportunities for active, accredited angel investors across the Southeast. Accredited angels are high net worth individuals (such as successful entrepreneurs, retired doctors and executives, and other wealthy professionals) who provide start-up capital to young companies to help them get off the ground.

“While we are seeing increased activity in the entrepreneurial sector today, many start-ups in the region struggle to secure seed-stage capital to get their company off the ground,” said Monica Doss, president of CED. “Angel investors play a vital role in the Southeast’s future because they can meet seed-financing needs by jump-starting the growth of entrepreneurial companies.”

“SEBIO features some of the region’s best life sciences deals,” said Rebecca Kaufman, SEBIO 2005 co-chair and an attorney with King & Spalding in Atlanta. “Providing exclusive educational content and networking opportunities for angels is a great way to attract this important group to the SEBIO Investor Forum to learn more about participating companies.”

Arthur Klausner, partner, Pappas Ventures, will keynote the Angel Investors Symposium. Mr. Klausner will speak about “Early-Stage Biopharmaceutical Investing in a Late-Stage-Biased Climate.” Prior to joining Pappas Ventures, Mr. Klausner was with Domain Associates from 1990 though February 2004 serving as a general partner from 1997 through February 2004. During that time, he was a board member of Domain portfolio companies such as Santarus, X-Ceptor, and Altea Therapeutics, and he was a board observer for Peninsula Pharmaceuticals.

In addition to Mr. Klausner’s keynote address, the Angel Investors Symposium will feature panel discussions on the following: How Early Is Early?; Do you want to dance? Who will lead? Who will follow?–Creating Relationships with Fellow Angel Investors; Seed Investing: Who, How, and Why?; and Syndicating Deals in the National VC Market. Panelists on the Seed Investing panel include four experienced investors:

— Mark Cochran, Ph.D., Managing Director, NeuroVentures Capital (Charlottesville, VA)

— Garheng Kong, M.D., Ph.D., Partner, Intersouth Partners (Durham, NC)

— Tony Natale, M.D., Venture Partner, MDS Capital (Nashville, TN)

— David Scheer, President, Scheer and Company (Branford, CT)

The day will culminate with an Early-Stage Company Shootout. Four of the top early-stage companies will present their opportunity to the entire conference, and a panel of celebrity judges will select an overall winner. The day will culminate with a Kick-Off Reception at the South Carolina Aquarium.

Accredited angel investors who are interested in attending the Angel Investors Symposium should contact Jayne Milnamow via phone (910.452.0006) or e-mail ([email protected]) for registration details. Due to space constraints, registration is available on a limited basis for active investors only.

About SEBIO: Southeast BIO (SEBIO) is a regional nonprofit organization that fosters the growth of the life sciences industry in the southeastern U.S. through efforts that promote entrepreneurship and bring together companies, investors, universities, and support organizations active in the development of the industry. Today, the Southeast is recognized as one of the fastest growing life sciences regions in the U.S. and home to more than 220 life sciences companies. A public/private partnership formed in 1999, SEBIO is committed to conducting activities that create regional leverage and facilitate the common interests and goals of constituents in the life sciences industry. The geographic footprint of SEBIO presently includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. For more information on SEBIO, go to www.sebio.org.

About CED: The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, headquartered in Research Triangle Park with a divisional office in Wilmington, is a private, nonprofit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in various North Carolina innovation centers. In July 2005, Wilmington’s Coastal Entrepreneurial Council merged with CED to create CED-Coastal, a divisional office focused on entrepreneurial development in Wilmington and throughout North Carolina’s entire coastal region. CED provides education, mentoring, and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops, and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED is the largest and oldest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing over 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. For more information on CED, go to www.cednc.org.