Midwest Health Care Startups Attract Record-breaking $1 Billion in Venture Investments through Third Quarter of 2007

Ohio and Minnesota Are Leading States

CLEVELAND, October 29, 2007– Midwest health care startups reported a record-breaking $1 billion in total investments for 104 companies through the third quarter of 2007, according to the BioEnterprise Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report.  The previous full-year record for Midwest health care companies was $783 million in 2006.  Ohio and Minnesota led all Midwestern states in health care investment, with Cleveland and Minneapolis leading all regions.

“This year continues trends that have been developing over the past few years,” said Baiju R. Shah, President of BioEnterprise.  “There are more Midwestern deals each year that draw investment, the investment rounds are becoming larger, and the companies are attracting both regional and national investors for the financing.”

In addition to investments, 2007 has seen substantial exits, including MemberHealth (Ohio) and NimbleGen Systems (Wisconsin), as well as significant public offerings, such as TomoTherapy (Wisconsin) and Eurand (Ohio).

By industry sub sector, the investment funding breaks down as follows:

·         Biopharmaceutical companies: $591 million

·         Medical device companies: $251 million

·         Health care software and service companies: $158 million

The Midwest Health Care Venture Investment Report includes all reported numbers. For complete state and Midwest region results, see the attached table.

To view additional data about Midwest health care business activity visit http://www.bioenterprise.com/reports/index.html.

Table: Midwest Health Care Venture Investment (By State)

Table:  Midwest Health Care Venture Investment (By Region)

*Includes a deal from Kentucky that is still in the Cincinnati metro region.

Sources: Compiled by BioEnterprise team from Venture Wire, Private Equity Week, Wall Street Journal, Venture Source, SEC Filings, company press releases, www.biospace.com, and Midwest bioscience organizations and institutions.

About BioEnterprise

BioEnterprise is a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration effort designed to support the growth of bioscience companies. Located in Cleveland, BioEnterprise provides management counsel and support services to health care companies. BioEnterprise‘s partners are Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and Summa Health System. Additional technology partners include the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland State University, NorTech, and Omeris.

The initiative comprises the collective activities of BioEnterprise and its partners’ commercialization offices:  the Case Office of Technology Transfer, Cleveland Clinic Innovations, University Hospitals Case Medical Center – Center for Clinical Research and Summa Enterprise Group.  The combined efforts of these groups has created, recruited, and accelerated more than 60 companies in four years.