INCITE NEWS

LIFE SCIENCE IN MOUNTAIN WEST EXPANDS EXPERTISE

(Salt Lake City, UT) June 28, 2007 The mountain west life sciences sector is now receiving the professional attention of experienced veterans from the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostics industry through the work of INCITE WORLD, a Utah based consulting firm.

"INCITE WORLD uses consultants with a minimum of ten years of ranking industry experience in product development, design engineering, clinical trial development, regulatory, reimbursement, manufacturing, pricing, medical communications, marketing and sales to support companies trying to get their life science products to market", says Jayme Norrie, Chief Strategic Officer, "Many companies outside of the ‘industry corridor' have a difficult time recruiting the talent they need in terms of cost and the limited network of mid-size and large life science companies. Our objective is to increase the value of the products and the industry. A lofty goal, but one that taken one step at time can have long term impact."

The company's national presence in the investment community, providing due diligence to venture capital firms, investment banks, intuitional investors, and industry interested in licensing and mergers and acquisitions is INCITE WORLD's primary focus. "The healthcare market is changing. FDA approvals on new products is more challenging, new cost control efforts by both government and private insurers will affect peak sales, and investors and patients alike need assurance that new life science innovations will meet the demand of aging baby boomers. These factors are reinvigorating interest in personalized medicine. These changes have a direct effect in the investor's support of new scientific endeavors. Investors understand that they cannot solely depend on static off the shelf reports and interviews with scientists and physicians to support analysis and decisions; there's always a patient who needs any given innovation and an interested scientist. The key investment question has become ‘is the innovation poised for scientific as well as commercial success and is the product reimbursable and at what level?' Strong out-licensing strategies depend on these answers as well", Ms Norrie adds.

"By using industry experienced insiders, investors get a more holistic view of how the product will perform and what expected actual costs will be versus those who have never worked inside a life science company and aren't familiar with some of the regulatory and payment nuances. What is unique about the firm is that we can provide the due diligence and then turn-around weaknesses by developing expert teams that mirror internal teams to plan and execute in a scaleable fashion."

The company has two distinct sides that form market synergies. For companies and products trying to raise money, INCITE WORLD can fill in the experiential and personnel shortages, thus raising investor confidence that product and market development work will be successful. The due diligence work the company provides also elevates the investment community's comfort level.

"The synergies are created through INCITE WORLD's work with both investors and client companies," says Bill Pagels, PhD, Executive Director of New Innovations. "Ultimately our goal is to move the company into higher levels of due diligence work in Mergers & Acquisitions, licensing, and creative partnerships, which will multiply the value we bring to the life sciences community as a whole. In creating a network of large industry licensing professionals, companies looking for partnerships, and an investment community willing to fund new innovations so that they become attractive opportunities, while helping companies with the strategies and execution required for successful new products, INCITE WORLD will soon become the ‘catalyst for growth' it is today but with greater capacity."

Companies can't do it alone. The cost of bringing in all of the manpower required to successfully launch a new life science product is cost prohibitive and slows an already shortened patent's life. "I was primarily responsible for developing the once monthly Ibandronate (Bonviva for Roche and assisting in getting it to market", says Sol Epstein, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs and nationally recognized thought leader. "And although I had been Chief Medical Director there, they later brought me in as a consultant. I consult now with several ‘big pharma' clients. In addition, the large pharma companies such as Merck, Pfizer, and Amgen. They all use consultants to provide perspective, professional experience, and additional manpower to get their drug on the market. If I am asked whether internal resources are sufficient and effective to launch a product, my response is generally that this may be too risky and the companies, especially the smaller ones, need to seek outside help."

"Ultimately science drives good products. However, there's also a need to make sure the healthcare community knows about these innovations and has faith that it will alleviate patient needs. This means that everything about the product and where it fits into treatment regimes must be considered in the initial product development planning stage", adds Dr. Epstein, "Merely developing a new drug' won't guarantee market success as your drug may end up being too expensive or not reach the endpoints required for successful disease intervention with minimal side effects. We must work towards innovating the right therapies and products for tomorrow's needs and abilities to pay for them in order to attract more funding that provides for future growth of the industry. Failures ultimately hurt everyone."

"INCITE WORLD provides scientific collaboration with other key scientists in specialized fields", says Prakash Kulkarni, PhD, Executive Director, Pharmacogenomics Program. "The role of genomics and personalized medicine is of great priority to the FDA, and whether they realize it or not, to patients who want safe and effective medicines. This will have great impact on the diagnostics industry as well in developing novel tests that are predictive of disease stage and prognosis, and treatment response."

INCITE WORLD has a cadre of consultants that span the necessary functions of product development, regulatory, reimbursement and pricing, marketing and regulatory filing. Currently there are over seventy-five consultants available for support and the list is growing. "We're always on the prowl for consultants who either have consulting practices or who have been in ranking industry and have been downsized or are looking to use their skills to work on a variety of important and interesting projects for clients," says Jayme Norrie. "I encourage them to visit our web-site and apply."

INCITE WORLD has been in business since April and looks forward to bringing more attention to the important life science community of Utah and Colorado. The company has plans for a national launch and campaign for its due diligence work.

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