BioWest 2005 Expands to Feature Venture Capital Award
The Rocky Mountain Region's premier networking event and trade show for the biotechnology and medical devices industries has expanded to include the first annual $10,000 Faegre & Benson Venture Showcase Award, to be presented to the winning emerging biosciences company at the Venture Capital program on November 8, 2005. The award, sponsored by the law firm Faegre & Benson, is designed to help support growing biotech companies and provide visibility in front of a high-profile venture capital panel.
Denver, Colo. (PRWEB) August 14, 2005 -- The Rocky Mountain Region's premier
networking event and trade show for the biotechnology and medical devices
industries has expanded to include the first annual $10,000 Faegre & Benson
Venture Showcase Award, to be presented to the winning emerging biosciences
company at the Venture Capital program on Nov. 8, 2005.
The award,
sponsored by the law firm Faegre & Benson, is designed to help support
growing biotech companies and provide visibility in front of a high-profile
venture capital panel. The BioWest organizers are expecting approximately 10 to
12 companies to participate in the competition.
"This award truly sets
BioWest apart from other industry events and is generating a lot of excitement
in the community," says Chistine Shapard, director of biosciences and emerging
industries for the Governor's Office of Economic Development and International
Trade (OEDIT). "It's great to see some of our smaller companies vying not only
for the $10,000 prize, but also for the visibility at the region's premier event
for our industry."
"We're very excited to be able to assist early stage
bioscience companies by sponsoring this award and coordinating the VC track
presentations," says Dr. Richard Nakashima, a biotech patent attorney with
Faegre & Benson. "Our firm has a history of supporting not only the large
players in the biotech industry, such as Guidant and Roche Colorado, but also
working with a diverse group of companies, from the earliest startups to
mid-level established companies. Our continuing support of the Colorado
bioscience community, such as our sponsorship of this unrestricted Award, is
something that we're very proud of."
BioWest, an annual event hosted by
OEDIT in partnership with the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA),
Fitzsimons, the City of Denver, the Metro Denver EDC and numerous research
institutions, will take place Nov. 8 and 9, 2005 at the new Colorado Convention
Center. The event, which expects more than 700 attendees, includes 15 expert
panels and five breakout tracks on topics ranging from start-up issues and
regulatory requirements to international clinical trials, as well as the Annual
Awards Dinner.
For more information and to find the application, go to:
http://www.biowestconference.com.
The Colorado
BioScience Association (CBSA) is a not-for-profit corporation providing services
and support for Colorado's growing biosciences industry. With over 300 members,
CBSA actively works to promote the growth of the industry by working for a
better business environment, grow the state's biotech workforce, fight for
policies that support a strong bioscience industry in the state and speak with a
single voice on behalf of the industry. For more information, please visit http://www.cobioscience.com.
The Colorado Office of
Economic Development and International Trade works to foster a positive business
climate that encourages quality economic development through financial and
technical assistance for local and regional economic development activities
throughout the State of Colorado. For more information, please visit http://www.AdvanceColorado.com.
Faegre & Benson LLP
is a full-service law firm with offices in Denver, Boulder, Minneapolis, Des
Moines, London, Frankfurt and Shanghai, with more than 100 attorneys in Colorado
and more than 450 worldwide. Faegre & Benson is proud to support the
Colorado and national bioscience industry with services in corporate law,
intellectual property, labor and employment, financial transactions and a wide
range of other legal services. For more information, please visit http://www.faegre.com.
Contacts:
Christine
Shapard, Director of Biosciences and Emerging Industries for the Governor's
Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT),
303.892.3840
Denise Brown, Executive Director, Colorado BioScience
Association, 303.592.4073
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/8/prweb272537.htm