Ms. Kimberly Nearing, Managing Director - Life Sciences at Cedrus Investments ("Cedrus"), served on the Conference Advisory Committee and as a speaker on a panel at the 21st annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York City on February 11th and 12th.

BIO CEO & Investor Conference is one of the largest investor conferences focused on established and emerging publicly traded and select private biotech companies. Each year the BIO CEO & Investor Conference provides a neutral forum where leading institutional investors, industry analysts, and senior biotechnology executives have the opportunity to shape the future investment landscape of the biotechnology industry.

As a member of the Advisory Committee, Ms. Nearing invited Jinzi Wu, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and CEO, Ascletis Pharma Inc. to be a keynote speaker. Ascletis is the first pre-revenue biotechnology company to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The panel Ms. Nearing participated on focused on the impact of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") on cross-border investments and deal making. Fellow panelists included Jeff Farra, Vice President, Government Affairs, National Venture Capital Association (NVCA); Joseph Benkert, Senior Advisor, Morrison & Foerster LLP; and Jun Bao, Ph.D., MBA, President and CEO, IMPACT Therapeutics. One of the key take aways from the discussion is that regulatory reform is causing concern and pause on the part of many China-based investors and uncertainty by both investors and early-stage biotech's in the US that relies on these funds. It's unlikely these investments would stop altogether, it is very possible that these investments will go to other countries (including Europe) and or other industries.