Corrections or additions?
This article by Kathleen McGinn Spring was prepared for the September 4, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
N.J. Technology Fast 50
Growth — fast growth, category-stealing growth,
growth at all costs — was the mantra of the end of the decade
just passed, and the very beginning of this decade too. Fueled by
venture capital and soaring stock prices, a number of technology companies
did achieve dizzying growth. Global consulting firm Deloitte & Touche
honors the companies that grew revenues at the fastest rate during
the past five years, and that invested heavily in R & D during that
time.
The firm’s Technology Fast 50 lists are compiled geographically, and
zero in on just 19 areas within the United States. New Jersey is one
of those areas, and nearby Delaware Valley is another. Just being
recognized as a hot bed of technology is an honor for New Jersey.
It joins three hot tech regions in California, Chicago, Virginia,
Washington State, and only 14 other states or regions. Even Massachusetts,
home of the famous Route 128 technology corridor, does not get its
own awards; it is lumped into a New England category.
After the tech gyrations calm down a little, it may be New Jersey’s
inclusion as a state that nurtures innovation that matters more than
what company was growing how fast in 2002. For though there was some
truly eye-popping growth — 293,493 percent at ITXC Corp. tops
the list — many of the fast growers are now devoting substantial
energy not to getting bigger still, but to surviving.
Some of the New Jersey Technology Fast 50 are private companies, others
are public. Both groups have suffered, but the second group has had
its humbling laid out in S.E.C. documents and stock charts for all
to see. Stock prices that hit — or surpassed — $100 a share
in the first days of 2000 are rarely as much as one-tenth of that
number now and some are counted in pennies. Reorganizations are ongoing,
as are staff reductions. S.E.C. documents detail the hunt for fresh
capital and list how much cash is left, and what measures are being
taken to make it last.
In the midst of this tech gloom, which has engulfed the hares as well
as the turtles, there are hopeful signs. Among the Fast 50 in the
Princeton area, there are companies that are gaining new business,
inking new R & D agreements with academic institutions, and rolling
out new products. Lessons have been learned. Now all that is left
is to wait out the economy.
Among the New Jersey Technology Fast 50 from the Princeton area:
Top Of PageComputerConsultants
Epam Systems
Epam Systems, 29 Emmons Drive, Suite C-10, Princeton08540. Founded 1992. Staff size: 10. Square feet: 8,000.”https://Www.epam.com”>Www.epam.comFounded in Belarus, Russia 10 years ago, Epam, a privately-heldcomputer consulting firm, was originally named Effective ProgrammingAmerica. Number 24 on the Fast 50 list with five-year revenue growthof 1,109 percent, it has enlarged its physical space too. It recentlymoved from 3,000 square feet to 8,000 feet in Princeton Commerce Center.Epam does consulting in sales force automation on PCs for variousindustries, domestic and foreign. The programs are webcentric andadaptable for Internet and intranet use (U.S. 1, June 16, 1999).Most system development work occur’s in Epam’s facilities in Moscowand Minsk. The company is involved in developing the Russian softwareindustry, and hires engineers in the former Soviet Union at what itswebsite terms “extremely reasonable rates.”Top Of PageMultimediaPrinceton Video ImagePrinceton Video Image Inc. (PVI), 15 Princess Road,Lawrenceville 08648; computer hardware and software for video processingfor television advertising production. Founded 1990. Brown Williams,chairman. Human resources: Judy Reed. Purchasing: Jeffrey Drobits.Staff size: 60. Square feet: 25,000.609-912-9400 609-912-0044webmaster@pvimage.comWww.pvi-inc.comPrinceton Video Image claimed the number 15 spot on the Fast 50 listwith five-year revenue growth of 2,100 percent. PVI is the companyresponsible for the technology that generates now-you-see-them, now-you-don’tvirtual advertisements that viewers see behind batter’s boxes andon soccer fields during televised sporting events.After flying as high as nearly $15 a share, the company’s stock priceis now just over its 52-week low of 62 cents. On June 26, PVI announcedthat Cablevision Systems Corp. had invested $5 million in convertibledebt in the company. In a press release, the company said that itwas especially pleased with this transaction “in light of thecurrent challenging financial markets” and that it continues tobe in “active discussions with other strategic partners to maximizethe future potential of our company.”For the second quarter, PVI reported revenue of $3.6 million, up from$1 million a year ago, and a net loss of $3.5 million, compared witha loss of $3.2 million in the second quarter of 2001.In reporting these results to the S.E.C., the company announced stepsto “reduce expenses, eliminate redundancy in its operations, andimprove its financial performance.” In July, it reduced its U.S.workforce by 14 percent through a combination of layoffs and attrition.During August, PVI is “instituting significant salary reductionsfor most senior executives in order to reduce overhead.”On a positive note, on August 8 PVI announced that it had signed athree-year agreement with the NFL to continue sale and insertion ofvirtual advertising for all NFL International telecasts.Top Of PagePharmaceutical ServicesNewton InteractiveNewton Interactive, 2425 Pennington Road, Pennington08534; strategic planning, design, integration, technical development,and implementation of content management, E-marketing and E-learningsystems, also Internet, extranet, and intranet solutions, specializingin pharmaceutical industry. Founded 1991. Debra Newton, CEO. Humanresources and purchasing: Tom Konstantynowicz. Staff size: 42. Squarefeet: 12,000.609-818-0025 609-818-0045info@newtoninteractive.comWww.newtoninteractive.comNewton Interactive placed number 36 on the Fast 50 list with five-yeargrowth of 479 percent. The privately-held marketing company specializesin interactive tools for the pharmaceutical industry. Its servicesinclude website development, intranets, extranets, interactive salestraining, and strategic planning and technology infrastructure forE-Learning and content management.Top Of PageBiotech R&DMedarexMedarex Inc., 707 State Road, Princeton Gateway,Princeton 08540; biopharmaceutical developing monoclonal antibody-basedtherapeutics for cancer and other diseases, including the UltiMAbHuman Antibody Development System, with a multi-product Phase IIImanufacturing laboratory in Annandale. Founded 1987. Donald L. Drakeman,CEO. Staff size: 30. Square feet: 6,000.609-430-2880 609-430-2850information@medarex.comWww.medarex.comMedarex, at number 23 on the Fast 50 list, grew itsrevenues 1,209 percent over the past five years. The biotech developstherapeutic products for cancer, autoimmune disease, and other diseasesbased on proprietary technology in the field of immunology. A numberof therapeutic antibody product candidates using the company’s UltiMAbHuman Antibody Development System are in various stages of human trials.Its preclinical development pipeline includes product candidates fora variety of indications, such as oncology, autoimmune/inflammatorydiseases, and infectious diseases.The company’s stock, moving along in the low single digits throughout1998 and the beginning of 1999, ran up to almost $100 a share earlyin 2000, before beginning to drop. The stock is now trading at about$7 a share, just above its 52-week low of $6.10.On August 14, Medarex reported second quarter revenue of $12.6 millionand a net loss of $17.9 million, or 24 cents a share. During thatquarter, the company decided to delay indefinitely the planned constructionof a large-scale manufacturing facility at its Bloomsbury location.The company will seek third-party manufacturing agreements and expandits existing clinical manufacturing facility in Annandale.Despite a drop in its capitalization, the company has $402 millionin cash and cash equivalents on hand, and has upped its R & D expenditures,from $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2001 to $18.4 million inthe second quarter of 2002.Orchid BiosciencesOrchid BioSciences Inc., 4390 Route 1 North, Princeton08543; Production services and technologies of single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) scoring and genetic diversity analysis, also 30,000 feet at303 College Road East. Founded 1995. Dale R. Pfost, CEO. Human resources:Sarajane Mackenzie. Purchasing: Barry Lynn. Staff size: 130. Squarefeet: 21,000.609-750-2200 609-750-6402Www.orchid.comOrchid Biosciences sits at number 30 on the Fast 50 list with five-yeargrowth of 730 percent. The biotech develops and commercializes technologies,products, and services designed to measure and analyze informationrelated to genetic diversity, or the genetic variability that distinguishesone organism from another. It provides products and services for geneticvariability analysis for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic,and agricultural applications.On August 14 Orchid announced that revenue for the quarter ended June30, 2002 was $16.4 million, an increase of $9.7 million as comparedwith the year ago period. Net loss was $12.2 million as compared witha loss of $14.3 million for the corresponding period in 2001. Researchand development spending was down, from $16.1 million in the quarterended June 30, 2001 to $12.5 million in the most recent quarter. Thedecrease was due to a $2.1 million decrease in the purchase of laboratorysupplies and to a reduction in research personnel.In reporting results for the quarter ended June 30 to the S.E.C.,Orchid stated: “We expect our restructuring efforts in the secondquarter of 2002 and anticipated incremental restructuring effortsduring the third quarter to reduce further spending. We believe thatthe result of these efforts, coupled with expected increases in bothrevenues and gross margins in all of our business units, will enableus to use our existing cash reserves to operate our ongoing businessactivities over at least the next 12 months. However, we may needto access the capital markets for additional funding for strategicbusiness activities.”Orchid’s stock began trading in mid-2000 and quickly rose to $60 ashare. It hit a new 52-week low of 90 cents on August 5, and is nowtrading at about $1 a share.PharmacopeiaPharmacopeia Inc., 3000 Eastpark Boulevard, CN5350, Princeton 08543-5350; patented chemical screening librariesfor early drug testing and development. Founded 1993. Joseph A. Mollica,CEO. Purchasing: Dennis Biunno. Staff size: 150. Square feet: 70,000.609-452-3600 609-452-3672Www.pcop.comPharmacopeia is number 40 on the Fast 50 list with five-year revenuegrowth of 399 percent. The company’s drug discovery business integratesproprietary small molecule combinatorial and medicinal chemistry,high-throughput screening, in-vitro pharmacology, computational methods,and informatics to discover and optimize lead compounds. Its softwaresubsidiary, Accelrys, develops and commercializes molecular modelingand simulation software for the life sciences and materials researchmarkets, cheminformatics and decision support systems, and bioinformaticstools, including gene sequence analysis.On August 6 the company announced a revenue increase of 8 percentto $29.3 million for the second quarter and a loss of $5.1 million.At the same time, it announced a restructuring through which it willcut its staff by approximately 80 employees, a reduction of some 10percent.In its report to the S.E.C. on second quarter results, Joseph Mollica,CEO, said that “over the last 12 months we have reduced costsin the Drug Discovery unit, and improved its efficiency. In the softwaredivision, while revenue grew, that growth was slower than we had previouslyanticipated. Current market conditions require that we reduce ourheadcount while both maintaining service levels and honoring our company’scommitment to research and development.”Pharmacopeia’s stock price, which rocketed to nearly $100 a shareearly in 2000, is now approximately $8 a share, at the low end ofits 52-week range of $5.99 to $19.32.Top Of PageElectronic R&DDiscovery SemiconductorsDiscovery Semiconductors Inc., 110 Sylvia Street,Ewing 08628; design of custom semiconductor chips for NASA and U.S.Air Force, optical photoreceivers for telecommunications. Founded1993. Abhay Joshi, owner & CEO. Human resources: Sharon Joshi. Staffsize: 26. Square feet: 14,000.609-434-1311 609-434-1317sales@chipsat.comWww.chipsat.comAt number 33 on the Fast 50 list, Discovery Semiconductor has grown591 percent in the past five years. A privately-held manufacturerof optical receivers, the company states right up front, on its websitehome page, that it is “fiscally conservative.” It therebydemonstrates how very fast the key buzz words in the tech industryhave changed. Where using cash to reel in market share with the single-mindedfocus of a great white shark closing in on its prey was all the ragejust three years ago, the word “conservative” linked withmoney management is suddenly a very good thing.Discovery, founded in 1993, has fed its growth with Small BusinessInnovation Research contracts. The company, which moved to new officesin Ewing in May, has reinvested proceeds from commercial operationsinto research, while attaining profitability. Its goal is to becomean independent Fortune 1000 company within five years.PD/LD Inc. (Photo Diode-Laser Diode), 30-B Pennington-HopewellRoad, Pennington 08534; fiber coupling and packaging of fiber opticdevices. Founded 1993. Vladimir Ban, president. Human resources: KarenReid. Purchasing: Mary Kay Powers. Staff size: 60. Square feet: 15,000.609-564-7900 609-564-7901info@pd-ld.comWww.pd-ld.comPD-LD came in at number 46 on the Fast 50 list with growth of 312percent over the past five years. Founded in 1993, the privately-heldcompany manufactures for the optical communications, sensor, and medicalindustries. Its products include fiber coupled coaxial lasers andLEDs, high power pulsed lasers, CWDM Modules, and combiners.The company received significant financing in 2000 and moved to newfacilities in March, 2001. It has photosensitive glasses under developmentand is in joint development programs with Princeton University.Universal DisplayUniversal Display Corporation Inc., 375 PhillipsBoulevard, Ewing 08618; flat panel, full color OLED displays. Founded1994. Steven Abramson, president. Human resources: Katerina Aggelikas.Purchasing: Lily Khalif. Staff size: 30. Square feet: 21,000.609-671-0980 609-671-0995Www.universaldisplay.comUniversal Display Corp. is number 22 on this year’s Fast 50 list withfive-year revenue growth of 1,233 percent. The company, in conjunctionwith Princeton University and the University of South California,is engaged in the research, development, and commercialization ofOrganic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology for use in flat paneldisplays and other applications.One technology application is based on the fabrication of transparentcathodes. The company’s transparent cathode technology provides theability to develop transparent and high contrast displays using organicmaterials. It also provides the ability to build OLEDs on opaque surfacesor active matrix thin film transistors with a greater fill factorand aperture rate.For the quarter ended June 30, Universal Display reported revenueof $455,026 and a net loss of $5,577,787. In a press release, SidneyRosenblatt, CFO, said of the results: “We continue to accelerateour development activities, while maintaining a conservative approachto our use of cash.”In August the company completed a direct offering to institutionalinvestors through which it raised approximately $6,038,323, accordingto its most recent 10 Q filing with the S.E.C. In that filing it statedthat it has sufficient cash to meet its obligations through the endof the current fiscal year.On August 12 Universal announced two $100,000 Small Business InnovationResearch contracts by the U.S. Department of Energy to demonstratethe feasibility of using its high-efficiency phosphorescent OLED andflexible OLED technologies for general lighting applications.In a press release, the company stated that “based on proprietarytechnology developed for the flat panel display industry, UniversalDisplay and its research partners, Princeton University and the Universityof Southern California, have identified several new approaches togenerate highly-efficient white light that may also open up significantnew opportunities in the general lighting industry.”Universal’s stock, which traded at over $30 a share in early-2000,hit a new 52-week low of $4.89 on August 5, and is now trading atabout $6 a share.Top Of PageTelecomITXCITXC Corp. (Internet Telephony Exchange Carrier),750 College Road East, Princeton 08540; international Internet telephonyservices carriers, wholesale call routing. Founded 1997. Tom Evslin,CEO. Staff size: 185. Square feet: 70,000.609-419-1500 609-419-1511ITXC@itxc.comWww.itxc.comIXTC Corp., claiming top spot on the New Jersey Fast 50 Technologylist, grew nearly 300,000 percent in five years. It is a wholesaletelephone company that sends calls to and from over 150 countries,operates a voice network called ITXC.net and carries calls betweentelephone companies. Its customers are most of the largest fixed-lineand mobile telephone companies in the world, as well as many new competitivecarriers.The company has ridden the telecom wave of the past few years, wayup and then way down. It went public toward the end of 1999, and bythe beginning of 2000, its stock price was up over $100 a share. Itfell steadily throughout 2001, reaching a low of $2.25 in the springof that year. It now trades at about $4.10 a share.Times are tough in the telecom industry, but ITXC remains hopeful.On August 21 the company told analysts it expects 2002 revenue tocome in at $270 to $300 million. Losses are expected to totally 44cents a share in 2002, but to drop to 3 cents a share in 2003. Thecompany expects to become cash flow positive by the end of that year.In accepting the Fast 50 award, Tom Evslin, chairman and CEO of thecompany, acknowledged the awful telecom climate, but said positivesinclude a good supply of talented workers. IXTC is taking advantageof these stars, who were hard to find during the tech/telecom boom.On August 14 it announced that it had hired Cynthia Artin as its vicepresident of public relations. Artin last worked for Global Crossing.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
