"Running for the Exits"

This meeting will be held at the MBC Offices, located on the ninth floor of One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142.

"Running for the Exits": The strategic value and challenges of parallel preparation; "Please use your nearest EXIT...Thank You".

The uncertainty in the public markets reinforces the need to think and plan for an exit under multiple scenarios.

Join us on Tuesday June 24th as Jaime Burns, Director, Healthcare Investment Banking, Credit Suisse , Glen Giovannetti, Global Biotechnology Leader of Ernst & Young , John McCarthy, SVP and CFO of Verenium, and David Redlick, co-chair of the Life Sciences group at WilmerHale , discuss the current state of the IPO and M&A markets and offer their advice and counsel on how best to plan and achieve a well-timed exit.

Topics

Factors to consider in planning for IPO's and M&A's
Does a company grow and plan differently if they assume one exit versus the other?
The importance of timing and market positioning
When to start planning for an IPO or a merger
Are various overseas markets a viable IPO option - AIM, EuroNext, Australia, etc.?
What will it take for the IPO market to open again domestically and when do we think it will happen?
How does a weaker dollar impact potential IPO or M&A transactions?

Speakers

Jaime Burnes, Director, Healthcare Investment Banking, Credit Suisse

Jaime Burnes is a Director at Credit Suisse within the Health Care Investment Banking Department, based in New York. Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 2006, Mr. Burnes was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers for 10 years. He has been involved in structuring numerous M&A transactions as well as effecting financings for clients across the biotechnology and specialty pharmaceutical industry including: Cerexa, NovaCardia Esperion and Serono. Mr. Burnes received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Glen Giovannetti, Partner and Global Biotechnology Leader , Ernst & Young

Glen is Ernst & Young's Global Biotechnology Sector Leader. Glen has over 23 years of experience with Ernst & Young, including over 15 years serving clients in the biotechnology and medical device industries. He has extensive experience in assisting clients with strategic transactions including public equity and debt offerings, technology licensing and R&D collaborations, and acquisitions. Glen is also experienced in helping companies address the challenges of commercialization including revenue recognition, related reserves and channel inventory.

As Global Biotechnology Leader, Glen is responsible for leading of team of professionals in Boston dedicated to understanding the needs of clients, monitoring industry trends and business drivers, and networking and informing professionals serving biotechnology and medical device clients globally. The team is also responsible for producing the Ernst & Young Thought Leadership publications such as Beyond Borders, The Biotechnology Annual Report, now in its 22nd year, and the bio*link and medtech*monitor publications. Glen is a frequent speaker at biotech industry events in the US and around the globe.

Glen is a Certified Public Accountant in the states of Massachusetts and California and a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the California Society of CPAs, and the Massachusetts Society of CPAs.

John A. McCarthy, Jr., Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Verenium

John McCarthy became Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in June 2007, after the merger of Diversa Corporation and Celunol Corporation. Mr. McCarthy joined Celunol, a privately held developer of cellulosic ethanol process technology, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2006.

Mr. McCarthy spent the previous 15 years in the healthcare/life sciences industry, focused on managing the transformational growth of early-stage companies into diversified entities. He led three companies through the IPO process, raising over $850 million in the private and public capital markets. Mr. McCarthy's experience includes serving as SVP & CFO of Xanthus Pharmaceuticals, SVP Corporate Development & CFO of Synta Pharmaceuticals, EVP & CFO of Exact Sciences, and President of the Managed Care Services Division of Concentra Managed Care. Prior to his operating career, Mr. McCarthy worked in the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley in New York.

Mr. McCarthy graduated with a BS from Lehigh University and received his MBA degree from Harvard Business School.

David Redlick, co-chair of the Life Sciences Group , WilmerHale

David Redlick is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group and a member of WilmerHale Executive Committee. He joined the firm in 1975. Mr. Redlick is the co-chair of the Life Sciences Group, and the former co-chair of Hale and Dorr's Corporate Department.

Mr. Redlick's practice focuses on corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital transactions and corporate collaborations. For over 30 years, Mr. Redlick has served as counsel for a broad range of clients, including public and private life sciences and high technology companies, investment banks, venture capital funds and real estate development and finance companies.

David has been represented numerous clients in Initial Public Offerings and follow-on equity offerings, including Emergent BioSolutions, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Altus Pharmaceuticals, Labopharm, Barrier Therapeutics, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Lexicon Genomics, and Progenics Pharmaceuticals.

A representative sample of David's Mergers & Acquisitions experience includes the pending acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Millennium Pharmaceuticals in its acquisitions of COR Therapeutics, Leukosite and Chemgenics, Transkaryotic Therapies in its acquisition by Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition by OSI Pharmaceuticals GlycoFi in its acquisition by Merck, and Domantis in its acquisition by GSK.