Caris & Company Appoints Dr. Kenneth Rind as Senior Advisor.

DEL MAR, Calif. -- Caris & Company announced today the appointment of Kenneth W. Rind, PhD., as Senior Advisor. Dr. Rind will focus on the capital needs of the biotech and healthcare community from the investment bank's San Diego headquarters, and from its New York office, as well as playing a key role in developing Caris' international growth strategy.

"Ken has had an illustrious career, both as an Investment Banker and as one of the world's earliest Venture Capitalists," said Darren Caris, Chairman and CEO. "I am gratified that Caris and Company will benefit from Ken's wisdom and guidance, especially as we look ahead to building out an asset management arm and seeking international opportunities and partnerships." Mr. Caris added that the appointment of Dr. Rind would help give the firm the seasoning and leadership needed to become Wall Street's foremost research driven boutique investment bank.

Dr. Rind is an internationally recognized corporate financier with experience and expertise in advising/assisting healthcare and technology-related companies, and in helping countries launch science-based industries. Ken has been an investment banking/venture capital partner at Oppenheimer (now CIBC), a corporate development executive/strategic investor at Xerox, an advisor on public and private technology investments to the Rockefeller family, the portfolio manager of a top performing mutual fund focused on technology (Samson Fund) and a founder of eight venture capital funds. He has served on the Board of Directors of numerous corporations, including 15 that were public and over 25 more that he assisted in finding strategic investors/acquirers.

He was appointed by the U.S. government and currently serves on the boards of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), chartered by Congress to grant cooperative funding to scientists and engineers in the former Soviet Union and beyond; and the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Foundation (USISTF), jointly funded by the U.S. and Israeli governments to foster international technology collaboration. He previously served as advisor to U.S. Trade Representatives Mickey Kantor and Carla Hills. In addition to the U.N. and the U.S., countries that have invited Dr. Rind to speak on fostering technology commercialization include: Holland, Belgium, Singapore, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, and Israel.

Dr. Rind was a founding Director of the National Venture Capital Association, President of the Connecticut Venture Group, and a Director of a Scottish Trust (mutual fund) investing in world-wide technology companies (Baillie Gifford). He is currently a Director of the Venture Investors Association of New York (formerly the NYVCF).

In 1981, Dr. Rind co-founded Oxford Partners, an independent venture capital company which managed venture capital funds provided by over 25 corporate (strategic) and 20 financially-oriented investors and was a predecessor of Oxford Bioscience. He also co-founded the Nitzanim-AVX/Kyocera Venture Fund in 1993 and the Israel Infinity Venture Capital Fund in 1998, whose successor has formed the first on-shore venture fund in China.

Notable investees from Mr. Rind's venture history include: Intel, Apple, Coherent, Human Genome Sciences, Genetic Therapy, Geron, Martek, ESC Medical, Galileo, XTL Biopharmaceuticals, Shopping.com and Applied Data Research (the first company to sell software).

About Caris & Company

Established in 2002, Caris & Company is a full service investment bank that services Wall Streets institutional investment community by providing differentiated, collaborative, alpha generating ideas. Headquartered in Del Mar, CA, Caris & Company has offices in New York, San Francisco, and Boston. The firms' research product includes coverage in the following areas: Biotechnology, Medical Devices, Medical Diagnostics, Healthcare IT, Semiconductors, Semi-Cap Equipment, Storage, Internet Services, Refining, Coal, Home Furnishings, Specialty Retail, Consumer Electronics, and Action Sports Retailers.