Released on: December 10, 2007, 10:12 pm

Press Release Author: Christine Shapard

Industry: Healthcare

Press Release Summary: ValveXchange has won the third annual Faegre & Benson Venture
Showcase Award at the BioWest 2007 conference in Denver.

Press Release Body: Denver, CO - December 11, 2007--ValveXchange (Aurora) today
announced that they have won the third annual Faegre & Benson Venture Showcase Award
at the BioWest 2007 conference in Denver. The announcement is made by Chris Shapard,
Deputy Director of the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA), who says the $10,000
Venture Showcase Award was again provided by the Faegre & Benson law firm and
announced at the Colorado Bioscience Association (CBSA) Awards luncheon held today
at the Grand Hyatt.

ValveXchange holds patented technology on a two-piece bioprosthetic tissue valve
that resolves the compromises between conventional mechanical and tissue heart
valves. The company's technology is easily adopted by surgeons with a clear
regulatory path and a $1.2 billion market opportunity. ValveXchange has exclusively
licensed its core technology, invented by founder Ivan Vesely, PhD, from The
Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Thus far, the company has been financed by seed
funding from the founder and three SBIR grants. That funding has allowed for
prototypes developed with proof of concept, two-piece exchangeable tissue valve,
functional & mechanical tests, in vitro testing of prototypes, validated performance
and in vivo testing. Going forward, the company is initiating recruitment of Angel
and Series A Financing of $2.5 million to bring it to the Clinical Trial stage. For
more information, call Dr. Vesely, Founder and CSO, at 323-481-9643 or go to
http://www.valvexchange.com.


ValveXchange competed against five other companies for this honor. Additional
participants included mBioSystems (Boulder, CO), Nanodisc, Inc. (Boulder, CO),
Sierra Neuropharmaceuticals (Boulder, CO), Solix Biofuels (Fort Collins, CO), and
Ventrus Biosciences Inc. (Greenwood Village). A brief explanation of each company
can be found at http://www.cobioscience.com/2007VentureShowcase.pdf.
According to Shapard, representatives of each competing company had 10 minutes to
present their technologies and business plans to a panel of bioscience venture
capitalists on Friday morning. The venture capitalist panelists included: Harry
Ross, Panel Chair, Aweida Ventures; Paul Grand, RCT BioVentures; Mark Lupa, Tango
Group; Steve Murchie, Keiretsu Forum Angels; and Dan Watkins, Draper Fisher Mercury
Fund.

Additional awards presented at the CBSA Annual Awards luncheon included:

* Lifetime Achievement Award
o Dr. Larry Gold

* 2007 Company of the Year Award
o AlloSource

* 2007 Rising Star Award
o Inviragen

* 2007 Volunteers of the Year Award
o Debora Hankinson
o Phil Macey

* 2007 Partner of the Year Award
o Forest City Development

* 2007 Legislator of the Year Award
o Representative Jim Riesberg (D-Weld)

* 2007 Chairman's Awards
o Ed Wood
o Kevin Smith
o Bonnie Vivian

* The new Pinnacle of Science Award
o Dr. John Stewart, University of Colorado

About Colorado BioScience Association

CBSA is a not-for-profit corporation providing services and support for Colorado\'s
growing biosciences industry. With more than 400 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, visit http://www.cobioscience.com.

About Faegre & Benson LLP

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 475 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, visit http://www.faegre.com.
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Contacts:

Christine Shapard
Colorado BioScience Association
Denver, CO
UNITED STATES
303-592-4089
cshapard@cobioscience.com
http://www.cobioscience.com

Web Site: http://www.cobioscience.com

Contact Details: Christine Shapard
Colorado BioScience Association
Denver, CO
UNITED STATES
303-592-4089
cshapard@cobioscience.com
http://www.cobioscience.com