Southeast BIO and BIO Team Up to Showcase the Southeast’s Life Sciences

Industry for the 2009 BIO International Convention

Site Visit Planner to be launched for Region’s Biotech Business

WASHINGTON , D.C. and ATLANTA , GA ( March 9, 2009 ) – SEBIO and BIO announce today the signing of a trade agreement with the primary goal to showcase the Southeast’s life sciences industry to the world in conjunction with the 2009 BIO International Convention in Atlanta .

To help attendees, exhibitors and reporters navigate the region, Southeast BIO (SE BIO), a regional nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the growth of the Southeast’s life sciences industry, will launch Southeast BIOtech Connect (SE BIOtech Connect), an interactive database that outlines the more than 1,200 biotech companies and research centers throughout Florida , Georgia , Alabama , North Carolina , South Carolina , Tennessee and Virginia .

“SE BIOtech Connect provides a tremendous resource to the region’s life sciences industry – thousands of BIO attendees will have the ability to view company profiles online and potentially schedule site visits before and after their visit to Atlanta ,” said Stephanie Adams, Executive Director of SEBIO. “Access to SE BIOtech Connect will be

directly linked to the BIO attendee online registration.”

Basic information on each of the over 1,200 companies has been entered into the system and presently a call has gone out to all of the region’s biotech companies in a coordinated effort to solicit their enrollment in a Site Visit Feature that will allow BIO attendees to schedule facility visits before and after their visit to Atlanta . Once a company

representative fills out a few simple fields in the database, the company will gain exposure to and potentially network with the thousands of BIO attendees.

“Seven state BIO associations in the southeast are members of SEBIO. All have worked together to enroll industry members in SE BIOtech Connect,” notes Ken Tindall. “It is truly a grass roots effort to ensure that each company and research center in the region benefit to the fullest extent from BIO 2009 in Atlanta .”

“SE BIO is bringing together the regional biotech community virtually through SE BIOtech Connect,” said Robbi Lycett, vice president of Conventions and Conferences at BIO. “This is a great example of leadership within the region that will ultimately serve to make the 2009 BIO International Convention a successful event for all attendees.”

http://convention.bio.org/exhibitors.

The BIO International Convention helps to support BIO programs and initiatives. BIO works throughout the year to create a policy environment that enables the industry to continue to fulfill its vision of bettering the world through biotechnology innovation. For more information on the global event for biotechnology, including program and housing

information, please visit http://convention.bio.org.

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.

BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

About SE BIO

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 800 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.