ESPS Introduces CADDY Compiler, Creates Standardized Electronic Submission for Agricultural Chemical Industry.

FT. WASHINGTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 1998--

ESPS Produces Only "Off-the-Shelf" Solution for Compiling

CADDY-Compliant Documents

Companies needing to compile multiple documents as part of regulatory submissions in the agricultural chemical industry now have the quickest means of doing so at their disposal. Electronic Submission Publishing Systems, Inc. (ESPS) today announced the introduction of its CoreDossier(R) CADDY Compiler(TM), a pre-configured software solution that enables registrants to rapidly produce required files needed to comply with internationally recognized Computer Aided Dossier and Data Supply (CADDY) standards.

CADDY Compiler is the only commercially available product of its type, used to create the output needed for CADDY submissions in the agricultural chemical industry. It is designed specifically for use with ESPS's CoreDossier regulatory submission management and publishing system, and is available for immediate use.

With CADDY Compiler as part of a CoreDossier implementation, companies can assemble multiple documents and collect data to produce the CADDY-compliant format. This output includes overall information about the dossier, a hierarchical table of contents, and searchable report index.

ESPS officials said the CADDY Compiler helps agricultural chemical companies meet the productivity goals of cost reduction and review efficiency set out by the CADDY Steering Group. "CADDY Compiler allows agricultural chemical companies to gather and create those documents in a far more time- and process-efficient manner," said Terrance Brennan, ESPS Chief Executive Officer. "The end result is that they are able to submit applications and obtain the regulatory approval they need, moving products to market more quickly."

CoreDossier with the CADDY Compiler has many time-saving features including: -0-

--   Ability to use documents of multiple types without any conversion
     steps
--   Ability to point to documents in multiple source locations
--   Ability to leverage attribute information from existing systems
     such as a DMS

"We look forward to CADDY Compiler becoming an integrated part of our CoreDossier implementation. CoreDossier has helped us become more efficient in compiling documents internally, generating CADDY-compliant submissions, and experimenting with generation of other submission formats, including web-enabled formats," said Doug Soper, Senior Technical Information Specialist, Agriculture Division, Bayer Corporation.

CoreDossier is acknowledged as a worldwide leader in regulatory compliance publishing. It enables workgroups to assemble collaboratively authored documents, containing multiple file types. The documents can be easily transformed into CADDY TIFF format, PDF files, published in HTML format to a Web site, or produced on paper with high-speed printers. CoreDossier empowers registrants and reviewers with access to the documents they need, in the format they want.

About CADDY

CADDY (Computer Aided Dossier and Data Supply) standards were first proposed in 1995 by a group comprised of members from the European Commission, its member states and the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) have also endorsed the use of CADDY-formatted documents for agricultural chemical regulatory submissions in North America.

CADDY's goal is to standardize the delivery format of agricultural chemical product registration and reduce the regulatory authorities' paper storage requirements. A study prepared by the CADDY Steering Group found multiple paper copies of large submissions reduce reviewer efficiency, increase the cost of such submissions to industry, and burden regulators with huge storage/archival problems. The CADDY Steering Group felt that "the solution to this problem, worldwide, is in the increasing use of modern information and communication technology, which will replace the need to supply multiple paper submissions."

CADDY-standardized submissions use the TIFF format, and are stored on CD-ROM. This enables both companies and regulators to deal with documents in a consistent format.

About ESPS, Inc.

Electronic Submission Publishing Systems, Inc. (ESPS) is the global leader in the development and implementation of enterprise software solutions used to manage and publish regulatory compliance and other business-critical document collections. Founded in 1994 as an Adobe Systems venture company, ESPS is providing economic buyers with clear ROI and benefit through a combination of industry expertise, great technology and a commitment to high quality implementations. ESPS's world headquarters are located in suburban Philadelphia, with additional offices throughout the United States and Europe. More information can be found at www.esps.com, or by reaching the company at 800.515.ESPS.