PDI,
Inc.
CONTACT: INVESTOR
CONTACTS:
Jeffrey
E. Smith,
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
Chief
Financial
Officer Kim
Sutton Golodetz (kgolodetz@lhai.com)
(201)
258-8451 (212)
838-3777
jesmith@pdi-inc.com Bruce
Voss (bvoss@lhai.com)
www.pdi-inc.com (310)
691-7100
PDI
Names Gerald Belle to Board of Directors
SADDLE RIVER, N.J. (April 28, 2008) – PDI, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDII), a
provider of commercialization services to the biopharmaceutical industry, today
announced the appointment of Gerald P. Belle to the Company’s board of directors
effective April 23, 2008. Mr. Belle’s appointment expands the number
of board members to 10.
Mr. Belle
was most recently the executive chairman of Merial, Ltd., a global leader in
animal health and a joint venture between Merck and sanofi-aventis, a position
he held for three years until his retirement in November 2007. Prior
to that, he was president and CEO, North American Pharmaceuticals, Aventis,
Inc., until his retirement from that company in 2004, after more than 35
years of service. His experience at Aventis was mainly in executive
commercial and general management positions in the United States, Asia,
Europe/Middle East/Africa and Canada.
Mr. Belle
also serves on the board of directors of Myriad Genetics, Inc. He is
a graduate of Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and holds an MBA from
Northwestern University in Chicago.
“Jerry
has had a distinguished career in the pharmaceutical industry and we are very
excited that he has chosen to serve on our board of directors,” commented John
P. Dugan, PDI’s chairman. “We will benefit immensely from his wealth
of experience with both large and emerging pharmaceutical companies as we
reestablish our leadership in contract sales and support services to this
industry.”
About
PDI
PDI is a
leading provider of contract sales teams to pharmaceutical companies, offering a
range of sales support services designed to achieve the strategic and financial
objectives of our customers. In addition, PDI also provides marketing
research, physician interaction and medical education programs. PDI’s
services offer clients a range of promotional and educational options for the
commercialization of their products throughout their lifecycles, from
development through maturity.
PDI
operates in three business segments: Sales Services, Marketing Services and
Product Commercialization. Our Sales Services include Performance Sales
Teams™, which are dedicated pharmaceutical sales force teams for specific
customers; Select Access™, our targeted sales solution that leverages an
existing sales force and infrastructure; and PDI ON DEMAND, a suite of
innovative sales services that provide rapid, customized sales force solutions
tailored to meet the local, regional and seasonal needs of our
customers. Our Marketing Services include marketing research and
consulting services through TVG in Dresher, PA, and medical communications
services through Pharmakon in Schaumburg, IL. In addition, PDI is a
high-quality provider of continuing medical education through Vital Issues in
Medicine (VIM®), located in Dresher, PA. In our Product Commercialization
segment, we seek to utilize our considerable sales and marketing expertise to
promote certain pharmaceutical products on behalf of our customers through
revenue-sharing arrangements, which provides our customers with the ability to
maximize the commercial potential for these products while enabling them to
focus their internal resources on their high priority, more strategic
brands. PDI's experience extends across multiple therapeutic
categories and includes office- and hospital-based initiatives.
PDI's
commitment is to deliver innovative solutions, unparalleled execution and
superior results for its customers. Recognized as an industry pioneer, PDI
remains committed to continuous innovation and to retaining the industry's
highest-quality employees. For more information, please visit the
Company's website at www.pdi-inc.com.
Forward-Looking
Statements
This
press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and
financial performance. These statements are based on current expectations and
assumptions involving judgments about, among other things, future economic,
competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which
are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond
PDI’s control. These statements also involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause PDI’s actual results to be
materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking
statement. Such factors include, but are not limited to: changes in
outsourcing trends or a reduction in promotional, marketing and sales
expenditures in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life sciences industries;
the loss of one or more significant clients or a material reduction in service
revenues from such clients; the ability to fund and successfully implement PDI’s
long-term strategic plan; the ability to successfully develop product
commercialization opportunities; the ability to successfully identify, complete
and integrate any future acquisitions and the effects of any such acquisitions
on PDI’s ongoing business; the ability to meet performance goals in
incentive-based and revenue sharing arrangements with clients; competition in
our industry; the ability to attract and retain qualified sales representatives
and other key employees and management personnel; product liability claims
against PDI; changes in laws and healthcare regulations applicable to PDI’s
industry or PDI’s, or its clients’, failure to comply with such laws and
regulations; volatility of PDI’s stock price and fluctuations in its quarterly
revenues and earnings; potential liabilities associated with insurance claims;
failure of, or significant interruption to, the operation of its information
technology and communications systems; and the risk factors detailed from time
to time in PDI's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including without limitation, PDI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2007, and PDI's subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form
10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. Because of these and other risks,
uncertainties and assumptions, undue reliance should not be placed on these
forward-looking statements. In addition, these statements speak only as of the
date of this press release and, except as may be required by law, PDI undertakes
no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for
any reason.
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