Latin American Acquisition, Creation of i3 in India Are Latest Key Components
BASKIN RIDGE, NJ, December 7, 2006— Pharmaceutical services company i3 today announced the next phase of its global expansion, which includes organic and acquired growth in India, Latin America, and Eastern and Western Europe. Coupled with important acquisitions earlier this year in Canada and Asia/Pacific, these additions to the i3 family will help i3’s pharmaceutical clients bring high-quality, well-tested drugs to market faster and more affordably by augmenting i3’s ability to provide customers access to a large pool of patients and investigators and the most efficient services from across the globe. They will further enhance i3’s position as a leading specialized pharmaceutical services organization in the world.
“Our strategy of increased geographic reach continues to honor i3’s responsibility to our customers,” said Glenn Bilawsky, CEO of i3. “Pharmaceutical companies want to expedite development and gain cost efficiencies through well-run trials that are completed on time and on budget. Our expansion will help us accomplish those goals while still maintaining i3’s commitment to specialization and quality, which has become an industry hallmark.”
i3 Operations in Latin America
i3 announced today its acquisition of one of Latin America’s largest privately held contract research organizations (CRO), with operations in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. This full service CRO specializes in clinical research and professional outsourcing and has a wide range of medium to large pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. Its emphasis on quality dovetails nicely with i3’s six-sigma approach to process improvement that builds in quality at all levels. i3 intends to operate the new organization as i3 Latin America.
“The Latin American market is 500 million people strong and the pharmaceutical industry’s demand for CRO-related services is growing rapidly there,” said Nigel Page, president of i3 Research. “i3 Latin America will extend i3’s capabilities for our customers with known and emerging needs in Latin America and brings i3’s regional strength, expertise and investment to this critical market.”
i3 Operations in India
i3 also is expanding into India with a full-service office in Delhi. In India, i3 will provide clinical research and data services offerings for India-specific and global trials. In addition to project management, monitoring, regulatory and quality assurance services, its data services offerings will include data entry and programming, data management, biostatistics and statistical programming. A staffing solutions business will meet the temporary staffing needs of pharmaceutical companies in India and provide recruiting and training support for i3 operations in India.
Previous Acquisitions in 2006
Earlier this year, i3 acquired the Canadian company Innovus. Today, i3 Innovus is a worldwide leader in providing health economics and outcomes research solutions to deliver real-world evidence that supports market access and reimbursement of health care products. Another recent acquisition—Pacific Pharma Partners Pte Ltd. (P3)—strengthened i3’s presence in the Asia/Pacific marketplace. Now part of i3 Research, i3’s therapeutically specialized clinical CRO, the pan-Asian CRO provides outsourced clinical development services in Far Eastern markets.
New Offices and Expansions
i3 also is opening a new office in Poland to supplement its existing presence and support its rapidly growing resources in Central and Eastern Europe. It is physically expanding its offices in France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Other i3 offices around the world include Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and 17 offices across America. In aggregate, i3 now offers its customers services in country locations on six continents.
About i3
i3, a global Ingenix company, provides integrated scientific strategies and solutions throughout the pharmaceutical product lifecycle. It is composed of i3 Research, a therapeutically specialized contract research organization; i3 Statprobe, a leader in comprehensive data services; i3 Pharma Resourcing, a world-class staffing partner; i3 Drug Safety, engaged in pharmacovigilence and epidemiology; i3 Innovus, delivering the science and solutions to achieve marketplace success; and, i3 CME, providing certified medical education. i3 helps companies gain sharper insights that lead to better patient care. For more information, visit www.i3global.com. Ingenix is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain statements, estimates or projections that constitute “forward-looking” statements as defined under U.S. federal securities laws. Generally the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. These statements may contain information about financial prospects, economic conditions, trends and unknown certainties. We caution that actual results could differ materially from those that management expects, depending on the outcome of certain factors. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include: increases in health care costs that are higher than we anticipated in establishing our premium rates, including increased consumption of or costs of medical services; heightened competition as a result of new entrants into our market, and consolidation of health care companies and suppliers; events that may negatively affect our contract with AARP; uncertainties regarding changes in Medicare, including coordination of information systems and accuracy of certain assumptions; funding risks with respect to revenue received from Medicare and Medicaid programs; increases in costs and other liabilities associated with increased litigation, legislative activity and government regulation and review of our industry; potential consequences surrounding findings of our ongoing internal investigation, investigation by a committee of our independent directors and informal SEC inquiry into our stock option granting practices, as well as a subpoena from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York requesting documents relating to stock option grants since 1999 and a request from the Internal Revenue Service for documents relating to the compensation of certain executive officers; uncertainty of results of pending civil litigation relating to our stock option granting practices; our ability to execute contracts on competitive terms with physicians, hospitals and other service providers; regulatory and other risks associated with the pharmacy benefits management industry; failure to maintain effective and efficient information systems, which could result in the loss of existing customers, difficulties in attracting new customers, difficulties in determining medical costs estimates and appropriate pricing, customer and physician and health care provider disputes, regulatory violations, increases in operating costs, or other adverse consequences; possible impairment of the value of our intangible assets if future results do not adequately support goodwill and intangible assets recorded for businesses that we acquire; potential noncompliance by our business associates with patient privacy data; misappropriation of our proprietary technology; and anticipated benefits of acquiring PacifiCare may not be realized. This list of important factors is not intended to be exhaustive. A further list and description of some of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including Appendix I of our Form 12b-25 with respect to our From 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2006, our annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Any or all forward-looking statements we make may turn out to be wrong. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Except to the extent otherwise required by federal securities laws, we do not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. |
