"Biotech Stocks Week" Geared For Investors At Informed Investors Forums in S.F. and San Diego, July 26 and Aug. 1.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 8, 1998--A veritable "Biotech Week" geared for individual investors kicks off Sunday morning, July 26 at the 5th Informed Investors San Francisco Bay Area Biotech Forum at the Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf.

"The San Francisco Forum is the first of two biotech stocks forums in the same week," said Tim Quast, Vice President of Informed Investors, Inc. of Sacramento. "The second one will be Saturday Aug. 1 in San Diego where we will stage our first biomedical set of forums. In the morning, we'll have a biotech focus while in the afternoon it will be medical technology, devices, etc."

On Sunday, July 26 from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m., eight companies and two prominent speakers highlight the San Francisco Biotech Stocks Forum at the Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf. The cost is $25 prepaid, $40 at the door. Audio tapes (five-cassette set) are available for $45 plus $3.95 shipping/handling. Call 800/992-4683 to register for either event, order tapes or get more information. Informed Investors' website is www.informedinvestors.com.

The keynote speakers in San Francisco are Peter Freudenthal (tentatively), biotechnology analyst for Robertson Stephens, and Kurt von Emster, portfolio manager for the Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund (NASDAQ:FBDIX). They will offer insight into the industry and biotech stocks.

Executives from the following companies will give analyst-style presentations:

Chiron Corp. (NASDAQ:CHIR) of Emeryville is a leading biotechnology company that participates in three global healthcare markets: diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. Chiron also conducts research and development in the fields of biological proteins, gene therapy and combinatorial chemistry.

Megabios Corp. (NASDAQ:MBIO) of Burlingame develops proprietary gene delivery systems and provides development expertise to create gene-based therapeutics designed for the treatment or prevention of genetic and acquired diseases.

Protein Design Labs (NASDAQ:PDLI) of Mountain View develops human and humanized antibodies and other potential drugs to prevent or treat certain disease conditions, including viral infections, autoimmune diseases and certain cancers.

Sequus (NASDAQ:SEQU) of Menlo Park is an integrated pharmaceutical company revolutionizing therapies for cancer and other diseases utilizing advanced drug delivery technologies.

Shaman Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SHMN) of So. S.F. discovers and develops novel pharmaceutical products for major human diseases by isolating active compounds from tropical plants with a history of medicinal use.

Sugen, Inc. (NASDAQ:SUGN) of Redwood City is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule drugs which target specific cellular signal transduction pathways.

SunPharm (NASDAQ:SUNP) of Jacksonville, Fla., is engaged in the development of small molecule pharmaceutical products consisting of novel polyamine analogues, invented at the University of Florida and licensed exclusively to SUNP for the development of products for treating AIDS-related diarrhea, cancer, gastrointestinal inflammation and other indications.

SangStat Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SANG) of Menlo Park is a pharmaceutical company applying a disease management approach to improve the outcome of organ transplantation. SANG has a total of 12 monitoring and therapeutic product and product candidates to address the pre-transplant, acute care and chronic phases of transplantation.

On Saturday, Aug. 1 at the Mission Valley Radisson in San Diego, investors will be treated to a full day of biotech/medical technology presentations, commentary and insight. The cost for the full day is $40 prepaid, or $55 at the door. The cost for the morning or afternoon sessions alone is $25 prepaid, or $40 at the door. Audio tapes are available. For the complete set of all companies and presenters (10 cassettes), the cost is $83.50 plus $5.95 shipping/handling. For either the morning or afternoon session (five cassettes), the cost is $45 plus $3.95 shipping/handling.

The morning program (8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.) is devoted to biotechnology companies. Jim McCamant, Editor of the Medical Technology Stock Letter (www.bioinvest.com), is the morning keynote speaker. McCamant is a leading authority on biotechnology investing. Companies committed thus far to presenting are: Alliance Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:ALLP), La Jolla Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:LJPC), Cytel Corp. (NASDAQ:CYTL), Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIP), and Genentech (NYSE:GNE). Three other companies are pending.

The afternoon session begins at 1:15 with a keynote address by Dr. Alex Arrow, Vice President/Research at Wedbush Morgan Securities. The concluding speaker at 5 p.m. is Michael Yellen, portfolio manager of the GT Global Health Care Funds. Companies committed to presenting are: VISX, Inc. (NASDAQ:VISX), Inhale Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INHL), Medical Science Systems (NASDAQ:MSSI), MiniMed Inc. (NASDAQ:MNMD), SteriGenics International (NASDAQ:STER), Zevex International (AMEX:ZVX) and BioSource International (NASDAQ:BIOI). Another company is pending.

Since 1993, Informed Investors has featured scores of quality companies and industry experts at its Forums. Informed Investors represents individual investors who collectively hold an estimated $2 billion in investable assets.

    CONTACT: Informed Investors
              Sean Finnigan, Steve Chanecka or Tim Quast 916/448-8222
               or 800/992-4683