MountainWest Venture Group Honors Peter D. Meldrum, President and CEO of Myriad Genetics, Inc.,...

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2002

Meldrum Speaks at MountainWest Venture Group

Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

MountainWest Venture Group has honored Peter D. Meldrum, president and CEO of Myriad Genetics,

Inc., as the 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year at its 15th annual awards ceremony held yesterday at the Grand Summit Hotel at The Canyons Resort in Park City. Meldrum was the keynote speaker at the event and was joined by Gov. Michael Leavitt who also addressed the group by outlining the strengths that Utah offers entrepreneurs and growing companies.

The Entrepreneur of the Year event, which was sponsored this year by KPMG, Parsons Behle & Latimer and the Boyer Company, was held in conjunction with the Wayne Brown Institute's 2002 Investor's Choice Global Venture Capital Conference. The event was attended by several dozen venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs, and leaders from the local legal, accounting, financial, banking and business community. Each year, MountainWest Venture Group recognizes a Utah business executive who has built a successful Utah-based company and who has remained personally involved in that company, inspiring others to participate in the risks and rewards of entrepreneurship.

Myriad Genetics, located in the University of Utah's Research Park in Salt Lake City, is a leading biopharmaceutical company that has developed a broad pipeline of novel drugs to treat human diseases such as prostate cancer, colon cancer, AIDS and rheumatoid arthritis. Meldrum was instrumental in the founding of Myriad Genetics in 1991, and has been involved in the formation of several other biotechnology companies including Pharmadigm Biosciences, Sonic Innovations, Cognetix, Inc. and Acacia Biosciences (now Rosetta Inpharmatics).

Prior to joining Myriad in 1992, Meldrum was president and CEO of Founders Fund, Inc., a venture capital group, and was a member of the Governor's Council of Science and Technology and chaired the Governor's Advisory Board concerning the regulation of the biotechnology industry in Utah. He was awarded the Governor's Medal for Science and Technology in 1998.

For More Information

Editors should contact Suzanne Kimball, vice president of public relations for MountainWest Venture Group, (801) 294-4779, ext. 1, suzkimball@aol.com. Additional information on Myriad Genetics can be found at http://www.myriad.com. Please see the MountainWest Venture Group's Web site at www.mwvg.org for more information on the group and its upcoming events. Founded in 1983, MountainWest Venture Group is a non-profit organization that brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and professional service providers through one of the most respected business networks in the state of Utah. Based in Salt Lake City, the group is the sponsor of the annual Utah 100 Awards, the Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Utah Deal Flow Report. The group is comprised of a broad mix of business executives, venture capital providers, attorneys, bankers, accountants, consultants, and educators.