Kurt Kruger

Founded in 1998 by William R. Hambrecht, WR Hambrecht + Co. LLC is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm offers a full array of investment services. They provide research that focuses on the (1) Asia-Pacific, biotechnology, business applications and services sectors (2) the China Internet and technology sector (3) consumer (4) enterprise software and Internet (5) gaming technology (6) Internet (7) medical technology (8) nanotechnology (9) networking and data infrastructure (10) semiconductors and devices and (11) specialty pharmaceuticals.

Qualigen, Inc. operates as a biotechnology company that develops and commercializes novel therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. It offers FastPack, a diagnostic platform. The company was founded by Michael S. Poirier in 1996 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, CA.

EMI Holding, Inc. discovers, develops, and commercializes treatments and therapies for rare diseases. The firm also engages in the marketing and sale of NutreStore L-glutamine powder for oral solution, a treatment for short bowel syndrome and the sale of L-glutamine as a nutritional supplement under the brand name AminoPure. The company was founded by Yutaka Niihara in 1987 and is headquartered in Torrance, CA.

Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, Inc. manufactures medical devices. The company was founded by John Donoghue on February 6, 2002 and is headquartered in Foxborough, MA.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Banc of America Securities (BAS) is the investment banking subsidiary of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC). The firm provides both the domestic and international equity and investment banking markets, and pursues a strategy pioneered by Citigroup that combines corporate lending with investment banking advice and services. They provide high-yield debt underwriting and leveraged finance, in addition to industry coverage groups such as healthcare, media and telecom, financial institutions, real estate and gaming. BAS also does a significant amount of work for Financial Sponsors, or private equity firms, often financing leveraged transactions. Following the strategy of Goldman Sachs, the firm lacks a standalone mergers and acquisitions department, instead employing mergers and acquisitions senior bankers throughout the industry coverage groups. The firm is registered as a broker/dealer with the SEC, is a member of the NYSE, and the NASD. The use of Banc in the BAS's name is indicative of the fact that the company is not a bank, and their deposits and other holdings are not insured by the FDIC.

Guidant Corp. manufactures cardiovascular therapeutic devices. The company also provides cardiac and peripheral vascular repair surgical systems. It operates in Europe and Japan. Guidant was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in St. Paul, MN.