Leerink Swann Bolsters Investment Banking Team: Announces Key Hires in M&A and Corporate...

Leerink Swann Bolsters Investment Banking Team: Announces Key Hires in M&A and Corporate Finance

BOSTON--(Business Wire)--
Healthcare investment bank Leerink Swann announced a significant
expansion to its investment banking team with key additions to its
Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Finance groups. Adam Berger and
Daniel Lepanto have joined Leerink Swann's Mergers and Acquisitions
Group, and Marc Grasso, M.D. has joined the Corporate Finance Group.

Adam Berger joins Leerink Swann as a Managing Director and Head of
Mergers and Acquisitions. Immediately prior to joining Leerink Swann,
Mr. Berger was a Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Mergers and
Acquisitions for Citigroup Global Markets, having been with the firm
since 1991 when he joined Salomon Brothers. During his 19 year M&A
career, Mr. Berger has advised on over 125 transactions totaling
nearly $400 billion in value. He holds a B.S. and B.A from The Wharton
School and the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated Phi Beta
Kappa and Magna Cum Laude.

Daniel Lepanto joins Leerink Swann as a Managing Director in the
Mergers and Acquisitions Group. He joins from Cowen and Company, where
he was most recently a Managing Director in their Mergers and
Acquisitions group. During a ten year period at Cowen, Mr. Lepanto
executed a wide range of mergers, acquisitions and other strategic
advisory transactions, and provided primary advisory coverage for a
number of core healthcare clients in biotechnology, medical technology
and healthcare services. Prior to Cowen, Mr. Lepanto worked in Mergers
and Acquisitions for UBS Securities and began his career in M&A with
Wasserstein Perella. He holds a B.S. with high honors from
Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Marc Grasso joins Leerink Swann as a Managing Director and
Head of West Coast Investment Banking from Morgan Stanley, where he
was an Executive Director in the Healthcare Group. Over the past ten
years, Dr. Grasso has focused on capital raising and strategic
advisory services for leading biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and other
healthcare companies. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Dr. Grasso was
a Vice President in the Healthcare Group of Credit Suisse First
Boston. He joined Credit Suisse from BT Alex. Brown, where he began
his career in investment banking. Dr. Grasso received his Doctor of
Medicine degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and received his
A.B. with Honors from Princeton University.

"Adam, Dan, and Marc represent outstanding additions to our
Investment Banking team," said David Ogens, Senior Managing Director
and Head of Investment Banking. "Each has tremendous depth and a long
history of success in their respective areas of expertise. All three
will further enhance Leerink Swann's ability to deliver the highest
quality advisory services to our healthcare clients and to earn the
role of trusted advisor to these management teams. These additions
reflect and underscore the tremendous momentum our platform is
experiencing in the healthcare marketplace."

About Leerink Swann

Leerink Swann is a healthcare-focused investment banking firm that
provides equity research, corporate finance, strategic advisory, and
asset management services for institutional, life sciences, and
high-net-worth clients. For the past seven years, Institutional
Investor has named Leerink Swann Best of the Boutiques in several
healthcare categories. Through its MEDACorp division, Leerink Swann
provides biomedical-consulting services to the institutional
investment community. With an internal team of experts and a dedicated
external network of academic and community healthcare professionals,
MEDACorp assesses the viability of cutting-edge medical technologies,
thus giving decision makers the information they need to perform.
Leerink Swann is a member of FINRA/SIPC.

Leerink Swann
Gregg DiPietro, 617-918-4601
Gregg.DiPietro@leerink.com
or
Schwartz Communications
Brian Bogie/Laura Coluci, 781-684-0770
Leerink@schwartz-pr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008