CommonHealth Ventures Into Outsourced Marketing; Partnership with PDI to Focus on 'Maximizing Full Potential' of Brands.

Business Editors

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2001

CommonHealth today announced a strategic alliance with PDI, the leading provider of outsourced sales and marketing solutions for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to help maximize the commercial potential of their brands.

CommonHealth, the world's leading healthcare-communications network, is a WPP Group (LSE: WPPL.L; NASDAQ/ADR: WPPGY; www.wpp.com) company.

Founded in 1986, PDI is a leading provider of comprehensive and customized sales and marketing solutions to the U.S. healthcare industry.

Pharmaceutical industry consolidation has been the primary driver of a boom in both outsourced marketing and copromotion, as merged companies realize efficiencies but also must make difficult decisions on resource allocation to support the brands in their combined portfolios. Increasingly, turning over the sales and marketing of established brands to another company that shares both risk and gain makes sense for "blended" companies.

"This alliance creates new alternatives to the `feast or famine' resource allocation pharmaceutical manufacturers and biotechnology companies have faced, taking outsourced marketing a step further by adding the power of great communications to that of great sales expertise," said Stacey Singer, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at CommonHealth.

"We believe there's a myriad of brands out there whose full potential has yet to be tapped through smart, aggressive promotion. Together with our PDI partners, we intend to supply that missing ingredient," she added.

In October 2000, PDI announced an agreement with Glaxo Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) for the exclusive U.S. marketing, sales and distribution rights of its antibiotic Ceftin(R) (cefuroxime axetil). PDI will collaborate with select companies in the CommonHealth network on the assignment, the partnership's first.

Commenting on the partnership, CommonHealth President and CEO Matt Giegerich said, "Many times, partnerships are entered into for all the right `strategic' reasons but founder on personal or cultural conflicts. CommonHealth and PDI have a shared history and a mutual respect that few alliances can boast, and we look forward to leveraging those advantages on behalf of our clients' brands."

CommonHealth comprises Thomas Ferguson Associates, Adient, The Quantum Group, Noesis Healthcare Interactions, The Xchange Group, Health Learning Systems, ProCom International, The Conectics Group, MBS/Vox, Enterprise IG Health, EinsonHealth, MD&A/Salud, Shire Hall, CommonHealth Europe, CommonHealth Australia and CommonHealth Kyowa.

In addition to PDI, CommonHealth has partnerships with the following companies: Ogilvy Healthcare Network, CIA Medianetwork, Medical Broadcasting Company (MBC), Pedagogue Solutions and SoftWatch.

PDI is a sales and marketing partner to the healthcare industry, maximizing the returns a product portfolio can produce for a manufacturer by enhancing or expanding resources for allocation. Leveraging its strength in building sales forces and the results they deliver, PDI has developed the sales and marketing infrastructure to take on total brand responsibility. Its expertise in sales, marketing, market research and medical education enables it to optimize brands at any stage of the life cycle: launch, growth and nearing patent expiration.