Corrections or additions?
These articles by Barbara Fox were prepared for the April 14, 2004
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane
As a result of a very big contract with CIGNA HealthCare for
custom-designed employee health care plans, CareGain will be expanding
from 4,000 square feet at Center Point Industrial Park. No location
has been announced, but the requirement is for 10,000 to 15,000 square
feet.
Two years ago CareGain, a pioneer in the area of healthcare savings
accounts, had just four employees (U.S. 1, February 7, 2002). Now the
company has 30 employees and expects to hire 75 or 100 people,
including Java programmers and customer service people with a
technical background.
CareGain is building its growth on employer desire to drive down
health care costs and on last December’s legislation creating health
care savings accounts (HSAs) for Medicare.
CareGain’s products will help enable CIGNA to implement a new suite of
products bearing the slogan "CIGNATURE – Your plan. Your choice." In
this suite will be consumer-driven health plan options and consumer
outreach and education programs that can help manage costs and improve
health care outcomes.
The suite will be available for plans that start after January 1,
2005. "It will free employers from traditional industry approaches
that tie plan features like medical management or network size to
specific products," says a press release. "Instead, employers can now
‘mix and match’ features to build a custom plan aligned with their
budget and employee preferences.
CareGain’s Defined-Care platform can customize consumer-directed
health plans. Employers can incent employees to make certain decisions
that may increase the value of their health care benefits, either
through an HRA or an HSA. An HRA is a health care reimbursement
arrangement provided by the employer that allows monies unused in one
year to be rolled over into the employee’s account for the next year.
The HSA is the health care saving account provided for by December’s
Medicare legislation. Unlike the HRA, employees in an HSA can
contribute to the account along with the employer and their monies are
tax deferred.
CIGNA’s CIGNATURE suite allows employers to select their own options
in five areas: clinical programs, benefit plan design, network size,
use of primary care physician, and funding type.
"Consumer-directed healthcare is not a single product," says Amit K.
Gupta, MD, president & COO of CareGain. "It is an evolving strategy.
CIGNA’s decision to advance this strategy is a reflection of the
company’s commitment to contain employer costs and engage consumers
from multiple directions – from introducing infrastructure and
operational efficiencies to providing plans that focus on population
health management and behavior modification through incentive-based
plan designs."
"The marketplace is ready for a new way of thinking about and building
benefits plans," says John Coyle, health care senior vice president at
CIGNA. "CIGNATURE plans eclipse products that restrict choice based on
network and benefits, and address the market dynamics that employers
face today.
"Employers want to control plan costs without compromising care and
quality. And they recognize that merely having employees pay an
ever-larger portion of the health care bill is a short-term, rather
than a sustainable, solution to managing costs," says Coyle. "At the
same time, they want to offer greater consumer choice, help employees
to become more informed about health care, and improve employee
understanding of how their choices impact costs. Our new portfolio
gives them the means to achieve all these objectives."
– Barbara Fox
Industrial Park, Monroe Township 08831. David J. Lenihan, chairman and
CEO. 609-409-3666; fax, 609-409-3671. Home page: www.caregain.com
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New in Town: Crick Cruikshank
Four weeks ago Jamison Eaton & Wood expanded from Chatham and opened
an office at the corner of Alexander Road and Vaughn Drive, Metro
Office Center III. Ernest "Crick" Cruikshank, senior vice president
and chief investment officer, is in charge. Founded in 1972, Jamison
Eaton & Wood is an independent investment management firm with
institutional and individual clients.
Right now just three people occupy 2,400 square feet, but Cruikshank
plans to hire eight people by the end of the year – experienced
portfolio managers and portfolio administrators. Realtor Gerard
Fennelly is his neighbor and, says Cruikshank, "Jerry was
extraordinarily helpful in helping us finding our space." Patrick
Luzzi of Advance Realty Group, representing the landlord, says that
the building is now 100 percent leased.
Cruikshank has been with this firm since 1988. A native of Chatham, he
graduated from Princeton University in 1966 and then began working on
Wall Street. In 1976 he joined Salomon Brothers, first in Atlanta and
then in Manhattan, where he was in charge of the national hiring and
training programs. Then he moved to the municipal group working with
hedge funds, mutual funds, insurance companies and bank portfolios. A
Hopewell resident since 1984, Cruikshank continues his undergraduate
interest, rowing, and owns a single scull. He has a daughter who heads
marketing for Valentino in Manhattan; a son who is working in real
estate in Georgia, and two children in college, one getting an MBA at
Boston College and the other a senior at Brown.
Cruikshank has recruited Edward "Ted" Bromley Jr. to join him. A 1958
graduate of Princeton University with an MBA from Harvard, Bromley had
most recently been senior vice president at United States Trust
Company. He had also been a partner at Delafield, Harvey Tabell
(bought by U.S. Trust in 1992), and had worked at Stein Roe & Farnham
and Butcher and Sherrerd.
JE&W seeks individual as well as institutional clients, assuming the
individuals have a portfolio in excess than $1 million. "We are
committed to a high level of personal service," says Cruikshank. As
institutions get larger, through mergers, the infrastructure can
sometimes get in the way. In contrast a small institution, he says,
has the advantage of being able to give each client personal contact
with a senior investment manager. "We have been focused in northern
New Jersey," Cruikshank says, "but we have clients scattered
throughout the south."
Cruikshank’s particular responsibilities at JE&W include fixed income
strategy and tactics. "When I joined JE&W it was an opportunity for me
to step in and run the fixed income business for them," he says. He
manages the largest pools of fixed income money for both taxable and
tax-exempt clients. "Part of our business is acting as a sole
investment advisor to a large southeast public pension fund, a $15
billion pool of funds. For a small investment manager we do think we
have a particular capability within the bond arena."
"Whatever the asset class, you have to have discipline and stick to
your principles," he advises. "It’s a lot of hard work. You have to
process a lot of information and formulate it into a reasonable sense
of assumptions and scenarios."
As an art and French major in the European civilization program at
Princeton, Cruikshank defends the liberal arts degree: "You have to
process a lot of information and to develop critical thinking, and any
undergraduate degree should develop those skills."
Princeton 08540. 609-945-1400; fax, 609-945-1410. Home page:
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Second Spinoff for Medarex
Medarex is spinning off its second company, Celldex Therapeutics Inc.
Celldex filed on Friday, April 9, for an initial public offering of up
to $50 million in common stock. The first spinoff for Medarex was
Genmab, founded in 1999. Medarex will own about three-fourths of
Celldex’s outstanding common stock.
No information is available about the number or the price of the
shares, and no date for the offering has been set, but the $50 million
would go for clinical trials and commercialization of the company’s
product candidates and to expand the R&D programs. Monies will also be
used to pay whatever license fees are owed to Medarex, to acquire or
invest in businesses, products or technologies, or to fund working
capital. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC will be the underwriter, and if
and when the IPO goes through, stock would trade on Nasdaq as CDEX.
Don Drakeman founded the Medarex at Dartmouth in 1987 and moved it to
20 Nassau Street in 1989. The firm went public in 1991 and bought a
genetically perfected mouse in 1997. Now the UltiMAb Human Antibody
Development System, develops monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics
for cancer, inflammation, autoimmune, and infectious diseases. The
headquarters is at Princeton Gateway at 707 State Road, and it has a
multi-product Phase III manufacturing laboratory in Annandale. It
trades on Nasdaq as MEDX.
With Lisa Drakeman as CEO, Genmab is expanding at its North American
Headquarters at 457 North Harrison Street and trades on the Copenhagen
stock exchange as GEN. It works to create and develop human antibodies
for the treatment of life threatening and debilitating diseases
Celldex is a development-stage biotechnology company that focuses on
R&D and commercialization of therapeutic vaccines and other products
that can either enhance or suppress the human immune system. In its
initial stages, it had been known as Keycell Technologies.
Drakeman, president and CEO. 609-430-2880; fax, 609-430-2850. Home
page: www.medarex.com
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Nyce Case Update
A development in the Jonathan Nyce case: Stark & Stark attorney
Sanford Durst is representing the parents of Michelle Nyce in a
custody battle over the three children. Nyce, the founder and former
CEO of Epigenesis at Cedar Brook Corporate Center, is accused of
murdering his wife, Michelle, on January 16.
The case will be heard in Family Court by Judge Jane Grall, but
nothing has been scheduled, says Durst. "My hope is that the custody
matters will be settled as expeditiously as possible, but it will take
time to be sure that we are serving the best interests of the three
minor children," says Durst.
Other potential legal actions include the possibility of an
administrator being appointed for Michelle Nyce’s estate. The estate
could also pursue a wrongful death suit.
"Apart from the legal issues involved it is a difficult situation. All
custody cases are emotional for the parties going through it. Custody
issues are the most difficult part of a family law attorney’s job,"
says Durst. "Fortunately I have not had a case where the underlying
allegations have been similar."
Other Stark & Stark attorneys, Paul Norris and Elizabeth Kreger, are
representing the Michelle Nyce’s parents in their request to freeze
Jonathan Nyce’s assets. A hearing on whether to unfreeze the assets so
Nyce can make bail is scheduled for Thursday, April 29, in the court
of Judge Neil Shuster.
Teodoro Rivera, Michelle Nyce’s father, has moved from the Philippines
to Hopewell Borough and has found a job, Durst says. The Nyce
children, ages 12, 10 and 5, are living with Jonathan Nyce’s brother
and sister-in-law, Michael and Margaret Nyce, in Eagleton,
Pennsylvania. Jonathan Nyce is being held at the Mercer County
Correction Center on $2 million bail; he is being represented by Robin
Lord and Maria Noto.
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Baker Expands
Having purchased the former Chicopee building in Dayton, Baker
Residential expanded from its former Central Jersey headquarters at 7
Centre Drive in Monroe to 3,000 square feet in a property occupied by
Medicia Corp. on Route 130. The move took place at the end of March,
and phone and fax are new.
The Baker Companies are based in Pleasantville, New York, and also
have offices in Morris Plains and Danbury, Connecticut. The
residential division has finished developing the Walker Gordon Farm in
Plainsboro and its current projects include three residential projects
with water views: Lighthouse Bay, single family homes and townhouses
in South Amboy, and townhouse projects – Boatworks in Bayonne and
Riverside in Secaucus.
The Medicia/Baker site had been the home of Chicopee, formerly the
non-woven fiber division of Johnson & Johnson. Chicopee was bought and
its operations were moved out of state. Eight years ago the building
and 71 acres were up for sale for $8.2 million, but in 1997 Medicia
signed a 15-year, $20 million lease and expanded from Belle Mead.
With 400 employees, the Medicia Corporation still occupies the greater
part of the 250,000 square foot building. Medicia is a custom
manufacturer of fine cosmetics, OTC preparations, and private label
products, and it also does contract packaging.
Dayton 08810. Ian Jones, vice president. 732-438-1677; fax,
732-438-1678. Home page: www.thebakercompanies.com
08810-1015. Frederick W. Von Rein, president. 732-438-3200; fax,
732-438-1536. Home page: www.medicia.com
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Fleet Sold
On April 1 FleetBoston Financial Corp. was sold for $47 billion to
Bank of America Corp., based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is now
the nation’s third largest bank, with about 35 million consumer and
small business customers, about 5,700 branches from coast to coast and
16,500 ATMs. Only Citigroup and the planned merger of Bank One and
J.P. Morgan Chase are larger.
Because Bank of America has few locations in Central Jersey, area
Fleet employees may not be very affected by staff cuts. Layoffs are
expected to run as high as 13,000, or about seven percent of 181,000,
the combined headcount of the two banks. Fleet customers have received
notices that they will be able to use Bank of America ATM machines
without charge.
Kenneth D. Lewis, chief executive of Bank of America, will hold the
same position at the combined bank, which retains that name.
FleetBoston CEO Chad Gifford becomes chairman of the new bank.
53166, Princeton 08543. Doug Kennedy, chairman of Fleet New Jersey.
609-987-3672. Home page: www.fleet.com
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Stock News
Chiral Quest, the life sciences chemistry company, has raised $7.2
million in a private placement organized by ThinkEquity Partners,
Paramount Capital, and Casimir Capital. CEO Alan D. Roth reports that
the offering size was increased from what had been planned "due to
substantial investor interest." Investors bought about 4.28 million
shares of commons stock at $1.50.
Chiral Quest provides chiral products, technology, and services to the
pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. It also "develops
chemical catalysts and other products used in the synthesis of desired
isomers of chiral molecules," according to a press release.
Chiral molecules have mirror image pairs, called isomers. These
isomers may have the same boiling points, smoothness, and solvent
properties, but they may differ in another important way. Eliminate
one of the isomers, and the single isomer version of the drug does
more with less. It is more powerful and more cost effective. When
delivered, it is safer, because it carries less excess baggage.
Chiral Quest was a spin off from Penn State in 2000, was restructured
last year, and launched as a listed company in February 2003 (U.S. 1,
June 5, 2003). Other officers include Ronald E. Brandt, vice president
of business development, and Xumu Zhang, chief technology officer.
K. Barry Sharpless, a world authority in chiral chemistry, chairs the
scientific advisory board, which also includes James P. Collman of
Stanford University. The company’s board includes Vincent M. Aita of
Kilkenny Capital Management, Stephen Roth (no relation to the CEO Alan
Roth), a former Johns Hopkins biology professor who co-founded Neose
Technologies in 1990; Kenneth W. Brimmer, board chairman of Active IQ
Technologies, Inc. and former executive officer of Rainforest Cafe;
and three people from Paramount Capital – Stephen C. Rocamboli, David
M. Tanen, and Michael Weiser.
Corporate Plaza, Suite E-2, Monmouth Junction 08852. Alan D. Roth,
CEO. 732-274-0399; fax, 732-274-0402. Home page: www.chiralquest.com
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Death
Neil Upmeyer, 57, on April 9. A former vice president of the Gallup
Organization, he was vice president for the Center for Analysis of
Public Issues.
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