Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a publicly traded pharmaceutical company. It was originally called Microbia, Inc.. Microbia was founded by postdocs from the lab of Gerald Fink at the Whitehead Institute to commercialize approaches that had been developed in the lab to improve industrial fermentation of fungi, to genetically engineer them to produce secondary metabolites more efficiently or to produce new ones as leads for drug discovery or as products for use in industry, and to identify drug targets in fungi for antifungal drug discovery. In 2002 the company hired John Talley to lead their antifungal drug discovery efforts, which at the time were focused on identifying small molecules that could inhibit fungal invasins, along with Mark Currie who had also worked at Searle division of Monsanto with Talley, and then had gone to Sepracor, and also Richard Bailey, who had run Monsanto's nutritional business. Currie directed the efforts that led to the discovery of linaclotide, which was based on an enterotoxin produced by some strains of Escherichia coli that cause traveler’s diarrhea.

Yuhan Corp. engages in the manufacture of pharmaceutical, health foods, cosmetics and consumer products. It operates through the following business areas: Pharmaceutical, Household products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API). Its products include APIs and intermediates and finished products such as ethical drugs, over-the-counter drugs and others. Its services include custom development and manufacturing services and supply chain management. The company was founded by Il-Han New on June 20, 1926 and is headquartered Seoul, South Korea.

There is a large unmet medical need for patients suffering from functional Gastro-intestinal disorders. Naronapride, a late-development stage, Phase-3 ready, oral gastro-prokinetic drug in the class of 5-HT4 agonists has shown to be effective for a range of these disorders.

Novartis AG is a holding company, which engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Innovative Medicines, Sandoz, and Corporate. The Innovative Medicines segment researches, develops, manufactures, distributes and sells patented pharmaceuticals, and is composed of two business units: Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals. The Sandoz segment develops, manufactures and markets finished dosage form medicines as well as intermediary products, including active pharmaceutical ingredients. The Corporate segment refers to group management and central services. The company was founded on February 29, 1996 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.

Microbia an industrial biotechnology company, engages in the development, production, and commercialization of specialty ingredients and biomaterials utilizing fermentation technology. Its products include carotenoids, specialty ingredients, biopolymers, and other biomaterials. The company has a strategic alliance with Tate & Lyle Investments, Ltd. to develop and commercialize fermentation-derived renewable ingredients.

ARYx Therapeutics, Inc. discovers and develops drugs for large, chronic disease markets. Its products include Naronapride, a proprietary serotonin type 4 (5HT4) for the treatment of multiple gastrointestinal disorders, Budiodarone, a proprietary compound in Phase 2 development for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, Tecarfarin, a novel compound for oral anti-coagulation therapy, and ATI-9242, a typical antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. The company was founded on February 28, 1997 by Peter G. Milner and Pascal Druzgala and is headquartered in Fremont, CA.

Evoke Pharma, Inc. is a privately held specialty pharmaceutical company focused on treatments for gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. The Company was established by experienced specialty pharmaceutical executives with a successful track record of acquiring, developing, registering, and marketing pharmaceutical products in the US. Evoke has concentrated on the gastroenterology field due to the significant unmet medical needs, the opportunity to improve known products and its focused physician base. Despite the relatively high number of patients suffering from gastrointestinal diseases and disorders, there are only about 12,000 gastroenterologists in the U.S. These physicians conduct over 31 million patient visits and write almost 40 million prescriptions each year valued at $4.8 billion. Also, GI diseases may limit or alter the effectiveness of traditional oral therapies due to the disease for which the product is intended to treat. By developing enhanced versions of currently approved drug products, through novel delivery formats or formulations, Evoke intends to provide patients additional treatment options. Evoke's lead product candidate, EVK-001, is in late stage clinical testing. The company has exclusive rights to a novel formulation and delivery of a currently marketed GI product. The product is intended for the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis. Evoke has advanced its product development activities by leveraging several corporate relationships with many external clinical, CMC, and regulatory experts. Evoke plans to continue this strategy of developing acquired products in partnership with various global organizations depending upon new acquisitions and appropriate asset investment.

RaQualia began operations in July 2008 with a corporate mission, "They seek to bring people health and happiness through innovative new medications." Thanks to the support of all of their stakeholders, the company was listed on the JASDAQ Growth Market in July 2011. They have transformed RaQualia's R&D strategy, which is now based on the concept of "selection and concentration." They are now focusing on their core competencies in targeting ion channels in the fields of pain and gastrointestinal disease. In addition, they have made a strategic decision to relocate RaQualia's discovery processes to Nagoya University to better promote synergy effects with academia. With the Chubu region as their base, they are continuing with further efforts enhance their capabilities in drug discovery, improve shareholder value, and achieve financial stability by promoting licensing activities and alliance management with their corporate partners. They will continue to work tirelessly in providing patients with innovative medicines sooner by increasing the pace of drug development. Thank you very much for your continued support of RaQualia.

Alfasigma is a major group that has accepted an important challenge: finding solutions to cure the population each and every day. Alfasigma products are appreciated throughout the world. Technology, enthusiasm and specific expertise have ensured continuous growth and steady internationalization. Four graphics are presented below that illustrate the progress of the group in Italy and the world.

Eli Lilly engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the pharmaceutical products business segment. The company manufactures and distributes products through owned or leased facilities in the United States, Puerto Rico, and 25 other countries. Its products are sold in approximately 135 countries. It also conducts research to find products to treat diseases in animals and to increase the efficiency of animal food production.

Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals and medical products. The Group's principal activity is the manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and supplies, home care products, chemicals and animal health products. Pharmaceuticals (ethical drugs, OTC drugs, toilet goods) accounted for 91% of fiscal 2002 revenues and other operations (food additives, industrial chemicals, animal drugs, research and clinical reagents). It was founded in 1894 and was headquartered in Osaka, JP

Armetheon, Inc., is a privately held San Francisco Bay area based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel drugs for highly unmet need. The company has several programs in clinical stage of development. These include:

Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq Copenhagen: ZEAL) (“Zealand”) is a biotech company with leading-edge scientific expertise in turning peptides into medicines. Zealand has a growing proprietary pipeline of novel specialty drug candidates and a mature portfolio of products and projects under license collaborations with Sanofi, Helsinn Healthcare and Boehringer Ingelheim. Zealand’s first invented medicine, lixisenatide, a once-daily prandial GLP-1 analogue for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, is marketed globally outside the US as Lyxumia:registered: by Sanofi and under regulatory review in the US. The license collaboration with Sanofi covers also a single-product combination of lixisenatide and insulin glargine (Lantus:registered:) which is on track for regulatory submission in the US in December 2015 and in the European Union in Q1 2016. The proprietary pipeline includes; danegaptide for ischemic reperfusion Injuries in Phase II development; ZP1848 for Short Bowel Syndrome in Phase II development; and the stable glucagon analogue, ZP4207, in Phase II preparation both as a single-dose rescue pen for severe hypoglycemia and for multiple-dose use to treat and control mild to moderate hypoglycemia; as well as several preclinical peptide therapeutics. The company is based in Copenhagen (Glostrup), Denmark. For further information about Zealand’s business and activities, please visit: www.zealandpharma.com or follow us on Twitter @ZealandPharma

The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, a subsidiary of The University of Texas at Austin, is an American company located in Austin, TX. The firm oversees college activities.

ZymoGenetics is focused on the discovery, development, and early manufacture of therapeutic proteins. ZymoGenetics is a fully-integrated research and development organization with a broad range of skills and technologies, including scientific computing, molecular and cellular biology, protein chemistry, antibody generation and engineering, clinical development and operations, regulatory affairs, quality, drug formulation, process development and protein manufacturing.

Medtronic, Inc. operates as a medical technology company. It offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, eternal defibrillators, inferior turbinate surgery products, and continuous glucose monitoring device. The company was founded by Earl E. Bakken and Palmer J. Hermundslie on April 29, 1949 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.

AEON Biopharma is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of ABP-450, a proprietary 900 kDabotulinum toxin complex, for debilitating medical conditions. The company is dedicated to developing novel and proprietary treatment paradigms in order to improve patient outcomes and drive increased value for patients, physicians, and payers.