Corrections or additions?
This article by Barbara Fox
was prepared for the March 20, 2002 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Medical Publishing: Line-Up Changes
Medical publishing companies in Central New Jersey
employ
more than 200 writers and editors and that does not count the in-house
departments of pharmaceutical companies nor the several dozen
companies
that offer an additional 1,000 jobs in pharmaceutical communications
and marketing.
But the industry has gone through hard time over the last three years,
and many of the medical publishing companies have done some
restructuring.
Unlike emedguides.com, most of the physician-based publications depend
on advertisements for new drugs. And the Food and Drug
Administration’s
new drug approval rates have dropped, according to Robert Preston,
the new CEO of Multimedia Healthcare at Princeton Meadows Office
Center.
“An unprecedented number of new products have been pulled from
the market,” says Preston. “Our lifeline is approval of new
drugs — the existing products don’t need to match the noise level
of the new products.”
Here are some changes in the medical publishing lineup.
Intellisphere Reorganizes
Michael Hennessy, CEO of Intellisphere, has bought the
Internet side of the company he founded — Multimedia Healthcare
— from his major investor, Freedom LLC. Meanwhile Freedom LLC,
based in Irvine, California, has exercised its option to buy
Multimedia
Healthcare.
Hennessy had founded Multimedia Healthcare in 1992 and took in a 50
percent investment from Freedom five years ago.
An Internet-based spinoff, Intellisphere uses both the Web and hard
copy. With 19 employees it publishes three Internet guides for
physicians.
Launched in 1999, Intellisphere’s MD net guide has a controlled
circulation
of 127,000. For primary care physicians it offers user-friendly access
to online medical content; the paper version refers to site links
on the web page (www.mdnetguide.com).
Intellisphere also publishes two other print guides to online
resources,
Family Medicine net guide (www.fmnetguide.com), a
physician-reviewed
resource, and Oncology net guide (www.oncologynetguide.com).
The deal is so new that these Net guide products are linked to the
Freedom LLC’s website.
Hennessy’s father, Jack Sr., was a publisher, and Michael’s brother,
Jack Jr., heads the fast-growing Medical World Communications at Exit
8A. On Intellisphere’s board are Stephen Barrett MD, known for his
debunking website www.quackwatch.com and physicians from Stamford,
Columbia, Vanderbilt, and the Mayo Clinic.
Intellisphere, 666 Plainsboro Road, Suite 300,Plainsboro 08536. Michael Hennessy, CEO. 609-716-7777; fax,609-716-4747.Home page: www.mdnetguide.comAfter the sale of Intellisphere, Multimedia Healthcarecontinues to operate with 23 employees at Princeton Meadows OfficeCenter and with Freedom LLC, based in Irvine, California, as theparentcompany. Robert Preston, the new CEO, says that financial detailsfor the buyout are not complete.A native of Hawthorne, Preston majored in business at Montclair State,Class of 1977, and started out selling ad space for the PattersonNews, but he has been in healthcare publishing for 20 years. For 15years, most recently as group publisher, he had worked in Montvalefor Medical Economics Thomson Healthcare (coincidentally the samefirm with which Dan Goldenson’s emedguides.com is now associated).Most recently he was group publisher. After he and three other Thomsonexecutives were laid off in January, 2001, he was hired by FreedomLLC to be “CEO in waiting” at Multimedia Healthcare. He tookover as CEO on January 1 and has just hired Kevin Bolum, anotherformerexecutive with Medical Economics, as his chief financial officer.Five years ago Freedom had acquired a 50 percent share of MultimediaHealthcare; a year later Hennessy created the Intellisphere division.A billion dollar, privately held company, Freedom’s flagshippublicationis the Orange County Register, and it has other daily and weeklynewspapersplus eight television stations.Freedom closed down or sold all its magazines except MultimediaHealthcareand officially exercised its option to buy Multimedia Healthcare onJanuary 1. Multimedia Healthcare continues to publish ClinicalGeriatrics,Home Healthcare Consultant, Annals of Long Term Care, and Journalof Gender Specific Medicine.Multimedia Healthcare/Freedom LLC, 666 PlainsboroRoad, Suite 440, Plainsboro 08536. Robert Preston, CEO. 609-275-3800;fax, 609-716-8138. Home page: www.mmhc.comMedical WorldCommunicationsJack Hennessy, like his brother Michael, has also madechanges to his medical publishing firm. Founded in the same year ashis brother’s firm, 1993, Jack Hennessy’s company, Medical WorldCommunications,reports revenues of $100 million for fiscal 2001, up from $3 millionthe first year. The executive and accounting offices moved fromForsgateDrive to Center Drive last year. About 22 people work in the newCenterDrive office with 70 people remaining on Forsgate Drive.Medical World Communications (MWC) company has 10 divisions and morethan 70 publications and information services; it claims an audienceof 1.2 million healthcare and dental professionals for itspublicationsand continuing education programs. It also has offices in New York,Chicago, Los Angeles, and four other locations and owns StagnitoCommunicationsInc., a publisher of specialized food and beverage magazines.On Forsgate Drive are the editing and publishing departments for 14of the magazines, including Cardiology Review, Family PracticeRecertification,Internal Medicine World Report, Physician’s Money Digest, Residentand Staff Physician, Surgical Rounds, American Journal of ManagedCare, Preventive Medicine and Managed Care, Generic Product Report,Contemporary Esthetics and Restorative Practice, The Compendium, andContemporary Oral Hygiene, Cardiology Review, Pharmacy Time, FamilyPractice Recertification, Internal Medicine World Report, Physician’sMoney Digest, Resident and Staff Physician, Surgical Rounds, AmericanJournal of Managed Care, Preventive Medicine and Managed Care, GenericProduct Report, Contemporary Esthetics and Restorative Practice, TheCompendium, Dentists’ Money Digest, and Contemporary Oral Hygiene.For another magazine, PharmacyTimes, the eight-person editorial staffworks in Westbury, New York, and the actual printing for all themagazinesis done in Kentucky, says spokesperson Bob Sorensen.Medical World Communications, 8 Center Drive,Jamesburg08831. Jack Hennessy, CEO. 609-860-8088; fax, 609-860-5903.Www.mwc.comMedical World Communications, 241 Forsgate Drive,Jamesburg 08831. Jim Granato, publisher, Pharmacy Times. 732-656-0200;fax, 732-656-0818. Www.pharmacytimes.comExcerpta MedicaRestructuresExcerpta Medica is an 80-person division of the medicalpublisher Reed Elsevier that recently downsized and was divided intotwo parts. Kevin Connelly, formerly the CEO, has left, as has BobIssler, who joined Medical World Communications on Forsgate Drive.Colleague Medical, a group that conducted doctors’ discussion groups,has also gone.Remaining is the journal publishing business, and a business thatoffers marketing-related information for the healthcare industry.William Mino is the general manager here and has about 60 of the 80employees,though some serve both halves of the company.The business model for Excerpta Medical’s journals in Belle Mead isto pay costs by assessing a production fee, with profits coming fromreprints. “Typically, when we get a paper comparing drugs,companiesorder reprints to give to the doctors,” says Stan Heimberger,group publisher of two bimonthly journals — Clinical Therapeuticsand Current Therapeutic Research.”The industry loves us, because our papers are very strongly peerreviewed, and our quality is superb, but once a paper has beenacceptedit appears in the very next issue, period,” says Heimberger. Withsuch a tentative production schedule, some issues are thick and somethin, but quick dissemination of recently developments in a drugtherapyis of prime importance to the pharmas, which distribute the reprintsto prescription-writing doctors.Clinical Therapeutics also publishes in-depth review articles onspecificdrug therapies or disease states and includes pharmaco-economicanalysesand health policy discussions as well. The articles are indexed byall major biomedical abstracting databases.Among the more than 1,200 other medical and scientific journalspublishedby Elsevier are The Lancet, The American Journal of Medicine, andthe Journal of the American College of Cardiology.Excerpta Medica Inc., 105 Raider Boulevard, Suite101, Belle Mead 08502. William Mino, business manager. 908-874-8550;fax, 908-874-0700. Home page: www.excerpta.comExcerpta Medica: Clinical Therapeutics/CurrentTherapeuticResearch, 105 Raider Boulevard, Suite 101, Belle Mead 08502. StanHeimberger. 908-281-3625; fax, 908-874-3250.Www.clinicaltherapeutics.comMediMediaLeaving TownTwo Medi-Media companies moved from Phillips Boulevardto Yardley on March 8. Brad Kozar had moved the managed care marketingfirm to Phillips Boulevard four years ago (U.S. 1, March 25, 1998).It has been sharing space with Veterinary Learning Systems, the animalhealth publisher, which also moved.MediMedia Managed Care LLC, 780 Township Line Road,Yardley, PA 19067. Bradley Kozar, group president and CEO.267-685-2788;fax, 267-685-2966. Home page: www.managedcaremag.comVeterinary Learning Systems Co. Inc., 780 TownshipLine Road, Yardley 19067. Marty Caron, president. 267-685-2400; fax,267-685-1221. Www.vetlearn.comTop Of PageDevcom’s MoveDevCom, 2 Research Way, Princeton Forrestal Center,Princeton 08540. Janice Kessler Gross. 609-924-4666; fax,609-924-3999.Janice Kessler Gross has moved her full service marketingcommunicationsfirm to 2 Research Way, Princeton Forrestal Center, leaving the newlyrenovated building on Route 27 in Kingston to be rented out. DevComconcentrates on the healthcare industry and has, as a particularspecialty,medically relevant brand reminder items.Top Of PageExpansionsManpower Temporary Services, 212 Carnegie Center,Suite 108, Princeton 08540. Barbara McCandless, branch manager.609-452-8484;fax, 609-452-9165. Home page: www.manpower.comBy combining with the Manpower’s Hamilton office, Barbara McCandless,branch manager of the Carnegie Center office, expanded her Princetonlocation. Two people came from Hamilton and more space was added.Top Of PageCrosstown MovesNew Jersey Association of School BusinessOfficials,4 AAA Drive, Suite 101, Robbinsville 08691. Bruce M. Quinn, president.609-689-3870; fax, 609-689-3167. Www.njasbo.comAfter 75 years of existence, this business association has finallymoved into their own digs. “We’ve never owned before, alwaysrented,”says John Donohue, assistant director. Formerly located in Bordentown,the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials has movedeight miles north to 4 AAA Drive, Robbinsville. Phone and fax arenew. “We saved up our money over a number of years, lookedaggressivelyfor the right property, and put down our down payment,” saysDonohue.”We’re near Route 130 and the Turnpike, it’s really an ideallocationfor us.”NJASBO is a professional organization that addresses the concernsof those working in accounting, data processing, service management,maintenance, payroll, purchasing, and transportation within a schoolor school district. It has 585 active members, 200 associate members,and 200 business associate members.Vibgyor Solutions Inc., 55 Princeton-HightstownRoad, Suite 205-A, Princeton Junction 08550. Srinivas Reddy,president.609-750-9158; fax, 609-750-0811. Home page:www.vibgyorsolutions.comSrinivas Reddy moved his software consultant firm from Plainsboroto 55 Princeton-Hightstown Road, Suite 205-A, Princeton Junction,08550 last year. Phone and fax are new. He offers Unix administrators,network administrators, programmers, developers, and databaseadministrators.Top Of PageLeaving TownBought OuteComServer Inc. (SLT), 4301 Route 1 South,PrincetonExecutive Center, Suite 220, Monmouth Junction 08852. Yash Joshi.609-951-8500; fax, 609-951-0580. Home page: www.ecomserver.comOn February 8 Silverline Technologies bought eComServer, and byOctobereComServer will have moved to Piscataway, Silverline’s headquarters,where it will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary. Last March theeComServer reached an all-time headcount high of 105, but as a resultof the market’s disaffection with E-commerce, it downsized 50 percent.”We had been talking about this transaction for eight months,”says Lazbert Oseni, one of the few original officers of the firm whois still working there (U.S. 1, May 3, 2000).Infinite Data Structures, 4 Princess Road, Suite207, Lawrenceville 08648. Robert Kelly, president. 609-219-0959; fax,609-219-0459. Home page: www.infiniteds.comEarly in 2001 this software firm was doing so well that it plannedto move to the 22,000 square foot building formerly occupied byPrincetonPolychrome on Alexander Road. Now, much of its software has been soldto SAP, a leading application development firm based in NewtownSquare,Pennsylvania.Most of the 50 employees here are now working in Newtown Square.InfiniteData Systems developed pharmaceutical bids and contracts computersystems under the IMHC product name.Several former employers are working with what remains of the softwarebut will be moving out of 5,400 square feet on Princess Road. JackFinn, the former CFO, says he is looking for a sublet tenant.Top Of PageDeathsDr. Marvin Freidman, 77, on March 12. He had been chiefof the urology department at Capital Health System at Fuld.Kathleen M. “Kathy” Hennon, 48, on March 12. Shewas an administrative assistant at Janssen Pharmaceutica in Titusvilleand had worked at Novo Nordisk.Corrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
