PDI 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
Announces Termination of Promotion Agreement
SADDLE RIVER, N.J. (April 22, 2009) –
PDI, Inc. (NASDAQ: PDII), a pioneer in providing contract sales and
commercialization services to the biopharmaceutical industry, today announced
that PDI and Novartis have agreed to terminate a promotion agreement that was
entered into in April 2008 under PDI’s product commercialization initiative
whereby PDI deployed a sales field force and provided other promotional
activities to promote a Novartis branded product in the United States. PDI
discontinued all promotional activities related to the product effective as of
April 22, 2009. In connection with the termination of this agreement, Novartis
will receive credits for services that PDI is currently providing to Novartis
under a fee for service sales force agreement for another Novartis branded
product.
In the
fourth quarter of 2008 PDI recorded a contract loss accrual of approximately
$10.3 million, representing the anticipated future loss expected to be incurred
to fulfill its obligations under this contract through February 1, 2010, which
was the early termination date in the contract. While PDI is
currently evaluating the net impact on earnings of the termination of this
contract on April 22, 2009 and the credits to be provided to Novartis for other
services, it currently anticipates a net positive impact on
earnings.
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. Our product commercialization solutions leverage our
considerable sales and marketing expertise to manage products throughout their
lifecycles. 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: effects of
the current worldwide economic and financial crisis; changes in outsourcing
trends or a reduction in promotional, marketing and sales expenditures in the
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life sciences industries; early termination of
a significant services contract or the loss of one or more significant clients
or a material reduction in service revenues from such clients; the ability to
obtain additional funds in order to implement PDI’s business model; the ability
to successfully develop and generate sufficient revenue from any 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
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; the ability to increase revenues and successfully
manage the size of PDI’s operations; 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; the
results of any future impairment testing for goodwill and other intangible
assets; 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,
2008, 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.