Ira Marks

Ngen, Inc. advanced diagnostics provides physicians and patients worldwide with sophisticated information to predict, diagnose and treat disease. Research and clinical reference labs use the highly accurate and reliable NanoChip(R) Molecular Biology Workstation, NanoChip(R) Electronic Microarray and broad suite of analyte specific reagents to develop diagnostic tests for variety of diseases. Nanogen also offers a broad portfolio of patented nucleic acids chemistries and molecular tools that accelerate genomic analysis and are compatible with many systems. The SynX subsidiary offers a line of point-of-care diagnostic tests and is building expertise in cardiac related health conditions. Nanogen's ten years of pioneering research involving nanotechnology may also have future applications in medical diagnostics, biowarfare and other industries. The company is headquartered in San Diego, CA

CEPHEID develops, manufactures and markets fully-integrated systems that perform genetic analysis. The firm's systems enable molecular testing for organisms and genetic-based diseases by automating otherwise complex manual laboratory procedures. The company was founded by Thomas L. Gutshall, William McMillan, Kurt Petersen, Greg Kovacs and M. Allen Northrup on March 4, 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA.

Prodesse, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes reagents for infectious disease agents. The company's products include Pro hMPV, for detection of human metapneumovirus; ProPneumo-1 that is for detection of mycoplasma pneumoniae and chlamydophila pneumoniae; ProPertussis, for detection of bordetella pertussis; ProGastro Cd for detection of toxigenic strains of clostridium difficile and Pro hMPV+, for detection of human metapneumovirus. It was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Waukesha, WI

Miltenyi Biotec GmbH provides biotechnology products and services. The firm products include MACS sample preparation, MACS cell separation, MACS flow cytometry, MACS cell culture and stimulation and MACS molecular; research areas include immunology, stem cell research, neuroscience, and cancer research. Its clinical applications include clinical development, CliniMACS system, MACS GMP products, CryoMACS freezing products, TheraSorb, graft engineering, immunotherapy, tissue regeneration and freezing products. The company was founded by Stefan Miltenyi in 1989 and is headquartered in Teterow, Germany.