PDI
CONTACT: INVESTOR
CONTACTS:
Jeffrey
E.
Smith
Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
Chief
Executive
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
Appoints Pharma Industry Veteran Nancy Lurker
as
Chief Executive and Director
SADDLE RIVER, N.J. (November 17,
2008) – PDI, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDII), a pioneer in providing contract sales
and commercial services to the biopharmaceutical industry, announces the
appointment of pharmaceutical executive Nancy Lurker, 50, as Chief Executive
Officer and a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, effective November 18,
2008. Ms. Lurker’s Board appointment fills a vacancy on PDI’s
10-member Board of Directors.
“Today
marks the beginning of a new and exciting time for PDI,” said John P. Dugan,
Chairman of the Board. “Nancy is a proven leader and a highly
accomplished executive with particular expertise in sales and marketing,
commercial operations and the evaluation of prescriber behavior. She
has achieved success at global pharmaceutical companies, as well as smaller
entities where she has grown the top line and brought innovation to the
organization, while being ever-mindful of margins and profitability. Nancy has
held senior commercial roles in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries for
more than 24 years, and we are fortunate to have an executive of her caliber
join PDI. The Board is confident that Nancy is the right executive to lead PDI
into the future.”
“I am
excited to be joining PDI,” said Ms. Lurker. “PDI is a company with a long and
proven heritage. I believe in its long-term future. While there are industry and
company challenges, my goal will be to focus on strategies for growth and to
return the company to profitability. Customer focus, sales excellence and
superior service delivery will be at the top of our agenda. I look forward to
working with the people of PDI and its customers as we solidify a long-term
growth track.”
Previously
Ms. Lurker was Senior Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer for Novartis
Pharmaceuticals Corporation (the U.S. subsidiary of Novartis AG), where she
oversaw a product portfolio in multiple therapeutic areas representing
multi-billion dollars in annual sales. While at Novartis she launched
numerous products including Exforge®, Tekturna®, Reclast® and Exelon® Patch, as
well as several marketing and productivity initiatives.
Prior to
Novartis she was President and CEO of ImpactRx, a privately owned company
offering among its services the evaluation of the impact of pharmaceutical
promotion on the prescribing behavior of the nation's highest prescribing
physicians. During her three years at ImpactRx, Ms. Lurker more than
doubled revenues while reducing costs and raising private
capital.
As Group
Vice President-Global Primary Care Products for Pharmacia Corporation, Ms.
Lurker led a multi-billion dollar business unit that produced drugs for urology,
cardiovascular, central nervous system, respiratory and women’s
health. She was also a member of Pharmacia’s U.S. Executive
Management Committee, the group responsible for managing all U.S.-based profits
as well as all U.S. management policies. She managed the marketing of
several of the company’s billion-dollar drugs, including Detrol® and
Ambien®.
Earlier
in her career, she was Vice President for Business Development at National
Physicians Corporation, an IPA risk management and practice management
group.
During
her 14 years at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ms. Lurker rose from Senior Sales
Representative at Mead Johnson to various product management and business
development positions, ultimately becoming Senior Director-Worldwide
Cardiovascular Franchise Management. During this time she directed or
developed strategy in many of the Company’s major business units and
successfully launched Plavix® and Avapro®.
Ms.
Lurker received a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry with high honors
from Seattle Pacific University, and an MBA from the University of Evansville in
Evansville, Ind.
Jeffrey
E. Smith, who has recently served as interim CEO, will resume his previous
position as Executive Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, and
James Farrell, who has recently served as interim CFO, will resume his previous
position as Vice President, Controller.
About
PDI
PDI
provides commercialization services for established and emerging
biopharmaceutical companies. The Company is dedicated to maximizing the return
on investment for its clients by providing strategic flexibility, sales,
marketing and commercialization expertise.
PDI
currently 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, and medical communications services through
Pharmakon. In addition, PDI is a high-quality provider of continuing
medical education programs through Vital Issues in Medicine
(VIM®). Our product commercialization solutions leverage our
considerable sales and marketing expertise to manage products throughout their
lifecycles, enabling us to maximize profitable brand growth. PDI's
experience extends across multiple therapeutic categories and includes office-
and hospital-based initiatives.
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; PDI’s
ability to generate sufficient revenue from product commercialization
opportunities that PDI pursues to offset the costs and expenses associated with
implementing and maintaining these types of programs; 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 PDI’s 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.