Bionest Partners names new head of Medical Device Practice

Paris, February 12, 2004 -- Bionest Partners, a provider of advisory and management services to life science companies, announces today the appointment of Olivier Pilley as Associate Member responsible for Bionest's new Medical Device Practice.

Pilley, 44, has accumulated 17 years in the medical device industry and has held key corporate positions in cardiology, healthcare E-business and blood treatment. Most recently, he was executive vice president of Fresenius Hemocare, European leader in plasmapheresis therapies, in charge of the company's International Business Unit. Prior to this, he led a project of E-procurement for hospitals in France. These responsibilities followed a 13 year stint in cardiology at Ela Médical, a European leader in cardiac rhythm management (implantable pacemakers and defibrillators) and diagnostic systems, where he was marketing director, Asia Pacific sales director and director of business development. Pilley is an engineer graduate from Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon.

"Olivier's experience will be a cornerstone of our new activities as we continue Bionest's rapid expansion by launching our new Medical Device Practice," said Alain J Gilbert, managing partner at Bionest. "Medical devices have been a steady growth area while other sectors have been more volatile, and with new technologies entering the field, it is an area that is of increasing interest to our clients, large and small, particularly as US based companies are entering the European market."