Media invited to ACS Webinar on chemistry and entrepreneurship and small/medium business

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2009 — News media covering the chemical sciences, small business and entrepreneurships are invited to join an American Chemical Society (ACS) Small & Medium Business Webinar Series on practical strategies for entrepreneurs on how to build ideas into successful companies and beyond.

Scheduled for Thursday, June 25, 2 – 3 p.m. Eastern Time, the teleconference will feature Al Altomari, a former senior executive at Johnson & Johnson who left the company to become an entrepreneur. Altomari helped start Barrier Therapeutics, a spin-out company, where he successfully ran the cycle of raising private capital, developing and commercializing a series of novel anti-fungals while transitioning the company to a publicly traded corporation (NASDAQ: BTRX). As CEO, he executed a sale of the company to Stiefel Laboratories for a 73 percent premium. Altomari currently serves on the board of directors for several earlier stage pharmaceutical companies and was recognized by PharmaVoice Magazine in 2007 as one of the Top 100 Most Inspirational and Influential Leaders in the Life Sciences Industry.

The topic for the teleconference is “From Idea to IPO and Beyond: Practical Lessons from an Entrepreneur.” Altomari will share his insight on why the economic downturn helps create spin-outs, strategies for finding opportunities, and how to benefit from spin-outs.

The ACS Small & Medium Business Webinar Series is scheduled monthly into 2009 to address current topics of interest to entrepreneurs and small- to medium-sized businesses in the chemical/biopharma enterprise. There will be a 30-minute presentation with Altomari followed by a 25-minute Q & A session.

News media can tune into the conference without charge, but must register in advance at the ACS Industry Member Program website, which also provides information about future speakers. Additional information about upcoming speakers.

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