Sponsors

ERBI's BioPartnering Exchange could not take place without its sponsors - their support helps drive the service we provide through the event and we extend our thanks to them.

Abingworth Management Ltd

Abingworth was founded in 1973 and is a key player among life science venture capital investors with offices in London, Cambridge (UK), Menlo Park, California and Waltham, Massachusetts.

Specialising in life science and biomedical companies, Abingworth now has funds under management of over $750 million and 25 staff including experienced professionals with operational, venture capital and public market investment expertise.

The company has backed more than 90 life science/medical firms, most of which have gone public or been acquired. Abingworth is a strongly science driven investment organisation that is prepared to take on substantial technical risk.

The management team has many years of operating experience and can actively assist scientific entrepreneurs in the development of their ideas into successful companies. Abingworth has the experience and resources to assist companies at any stage of development and take them beyond the IPO stage.

Website: www.abingworth.com
Email: info@abingworth.com

Deloitte

Deloitte is the UK's fastest growing major professional services firm in 21 locations, with over 10,000 staff nationwide. The Cambridge office of Deloitte boasts an all-encompassing client base with a highly diverse spectrum in terms of industry sector and size of clients, from small start-ups to multinational corporations. 10 Partners and over 200 staff deliver a full range of professional services to the East Anglian region. The Cambridge office has focussed on the opportunities in the technology sector;which the region has been renowned for, and the life and health sciences sector includes a diverse range of businesses. Our Life and Health Sciences practice works with a wide number of clients ranging from some of the most influential multinationals to dynamic new start-ups. To address challenges faced by these organisations we provide a broad spectrum of services spanning audit, tax, corporate finance, strategy, risk assessment and technology advice.

For information visit www.deloitte.co.uk

UKTI

UK Trade & Investment, the governmental body that helps companies trade overseas and encourage investment in the UK, has a team on hand to help companies invest in the UK. The organisatioon arranges trade missions to key industry events, provides expert market research on overseas opportunities and utilises its staff in the 200 UK embassies throughout the world to develop key contacts and host networking events.

The UK Trade & Investment biotechnology team also hosts partnering events such as Biotechnology Business Exchange which was held in October 2004 to complement the International BioPartnering event in London. The event was a great success, with comapnies from New Zealand, Australia and the USA meeting counterparts from around the UK.

The UK Trade & Investment Biotechnology Sector Team has helped comapnies find licensing and development opportunities in areas as diverse as bioinformatics, recombinent proteins used for the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

To find out more information on how they can assist your organisation, e mail: biotech-info@uktradeinvest.gov.uk, telephone +44 (0)207 215 8000 or visit www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti/biotechnology and register on our portal website.

UK Trade & Invest is extremely proud to once again be a major sponsor of ERBI's BioPartnering Exchange and wish it every success.

Finance and Regulatory Advisory Service

ERBI's BioPartnering Exchange has been generously supported by FRAS, the Finance and Regulatory Advisory Service. FRAS is sponsored by EEDA and supported by Babraham Bioscience Technologies, ERBI and Medilink East. FRAS serves small and medium sized biotech and medtech companies in the East of England through targeted events, co-ordination and signposting of appropriate advice resources relevant to the various financial and regulatory issues arising over the course of a company’s evolution.

Ruston Poole International Ltd.

Ruston Poole International was founded in 1992, and has created an exceptional track record in providing human capital solutions for the Healthcare, Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical industries worldwide. Its international consulting team provides a unique breadth and depth of experience in the sector, combining relevant healthcare industry expertise with many years of specialised search experience. The Company operates throughout Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim, addressing the needs of organisations ranging from the largest multinationals through to the smallest start-ups.

For information visit www.rustonpoole.co.uk

Hewitsons Solicitors

Hewitsons is a highly regarded commercial law firm with a regional, national and international client base. It has been closely associated with the East Anglian technology cluster since the birth of the Cambridge Phenomenon in the 1980s. Its top-ranked lifescience team, headed by Simon Portman, represents clients ranging from small start-ups and individual academics to major institutions and publicly listed companies. Areas covered include biotechnology, clinical trials, drug discovery, novel foods and medical devices. It provides specialist advice on process development and scale-up, manufacture, licensing, research and development and patent litigation. It also assists on corporate transactions, including AIM listings, mergers and acquisitions and rounds of funding. Other specialists in the team advise on competition and anti-trust law and regulatory issues.

Members of the team sit on industry bodies, regularly contribute to industry publications and lecture at pharmaceutical conferences in the UK and mainland Europe.

Hewitsons is also a founder of LawExchange, an international network of law firms based in the world's main technology clusters, which can provide swift advice on cross-jurisdictional matters. As a result, Hewitsons can draw upon legal expertise in mainland Europe, Canada and the USA, Australia, India and China, among others.

For information visit www.hewitsons.co.uk

Reddie & Grose

For information visit www.reddie.co.uk

Merck Sharp & Dohme

Merck Sharp & Dohme is the UK subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA, is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Merck discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets vaccines and medicines in over 20 therapeutic categories directly and through its joint ventures. Our mission is to provide society with superior products and services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life. At Merck, our strategy for growth is based on breakthrough research — both internal and external through partnerships — and demonstrating the value of our medicines to patients, payers, and providers. Worldwide sales in 2006 were $22.6 billion and Merck continues to invest heavily in research and development. Merck’s product line includes a broad portfolio of highly innovative prescription products in important therapeutic areas. Human health products include medicines to treat high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, asthma, benign prostatic hypertrophy, arthritis, pain, migraine, glaucoma, infectious diseases (antibiotic, antifungal, and antiviral agents), and vaccines (to prevent childhood diseases, human papilloma virus, shingles, and hepatitis A and hepatitis B).

For information visit www.msd-uk.com