Contracts Awarded: Healthcare Monitors
Expansions: Interpool, MicroTech, Personal Computer Rentals
New in Town: Chirotech Technology Limited
Crosstown Moves: Infinite Data Structures
Crosstown Moves: Philips Semiconductors
Corrections or additions?
Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on February 9, 2000. All rights
reserved.
Management Moves: Kelly for Kiss
7456, Princeton 08543. Robert C. Kelly, CEO. 609-587-3000; fax,
609-587-5355.
Robert C. Kelly, the former CEO of Enron Corp., has
replaced Zoltan Kiss as CEO of Energy Photovoltaics Inc. (EPV), a
research and development firm for solar photovoltaic technology. Kiss
remains at EPV as chairman and chief technology officer.
Kelly has a BS in engineering from West Point (Class of 1968) and
has master’s and PhD degrees from Harvard in public administration
and economics. Most recently he was chairman and CEO of Texas-based
Enron Renewable Energy, the nation’s largest natural gas company,
where he developed an Amoco/Enron joint venture in solar electric
power. "Continued growth in energy demand coupled with the
problems
of air pollution and global warming will create a significant demand
for solar energy," he says, "and EPV has the technology and
expertise to gain a large share of this rapidly growing market."
Founded by Kiss (previously founder of Chronar), the nine-year-old
EPV researches, designs, and sells photovoltaic technology, including
thin-film solar panels that produce electricity at a lower cost than
other photovoltaics currently produced. The company has 11
manufacturing
facilities around the world and plans to build four more this year.
It holds the largest commercial photovoltaic order to date — from
the Sacramento Utilities District.
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Contracts Awarded: PharmaSeq
Corporate
Plaza, Suite 204, Monmouth Junction 08852. Wlodek Mandecki, president
and CEO. 732-355-0100; fax, 732-355-0102. Home page:
Wlodek Mandecki’s young biotech company has received its fourth patent
regarding new microchip technology involving multiplex nucleic
acid-based
assays to develop rapid, sensitive DNA diagnostics. He says that his
company will seek additional capital to leverage this progress.
Founded
in 1997, PharmaSeq is applying microtransponder technology to DNA
diagnostic assays.
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Contracts Awarded: Healthcare Monitors
When a Medicaid client tries to fill a prescription,
a warning could flash on the pharmacist’s screen, advising that this
medication does not meet state guidelines — not because it is
expensive, but because it might react badly with another medication
being prescribed.
"If you look for savings from people not having drug reactions,
that can be a big savings." says Marion Pardes, director of
operations
at the College Road office of First Health Services Corp. Hers is
the first private company to contract with the state to monitor
clinical
aspects of those using public healthcare. The company does not deny
issuing a prescription based on cost but instead looks at the whole
medication picture: "If I deny somebody getting a drug, that may
save up to $100, but if I save them from having a reaction, that is
a much bigger picture, a more indirect way of saving money,"
Pardes
says.
After moving into an 8,000-foot College Road office that was chosen
for its proximity to Medicaid and Unisys offices on Quakerbridge Road,
Pardes has 35 nurses and pharmacists on staff and is hiring for
full-time
and part-time jobs with weekday hours.
Pardes grew up in Lakewood, the daughter of a bookkeeper and a
veterinarian,
and she lives in Toms River with her husband, an attorney, and their
school-aged daughter. She has a pharmacy degree from Northeastern
University, Class of 1980, and has worked in Children’s Hospital in
Washington, D.C., in independent retail drugstores, and as director
of pharmacy services for HIP New Jersey.
The parent organization, First Health Group, is based in Downer’s
Grove, Illinois, and the wholly-owned subsidiary is in a suburb of
Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1968 to process medical insurance
claims,
First Health Services has 1,000 employees in 35 states. The firm has
three lines of business in government services — as a Medicaid
fiscal agent, as a manager of pharmacy benefits, and for utilization
review and quality analysis. Since 1972 it has been the fiscal agent
for Virginia Medicaid. It is New York City’s fiscal agent for an early
intervention program, and it also has outposts in Wilkes-Barre,
Harrisburg,
and Baltimore.
Unisys does New Jersey’s exception claims on the financial side, but
until now New Jersey was processing its own medical exception claims.
Princeton is part of the pharmacy benefit management group and began
operating on December 1.
"With `prior authorization’ you are providing a gatekeeper to
be sure that drugs with multiple purposes are being prescribed for
the right purposes and won’t interact with anything else," says
Marilyn Dix Smith, executive director of the International Society
for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research at 20 Nassau Street
"The intent is to guard against misuse of drugs."
"We are handling authorizations for state prescription
beneficiaries,"
says Pardes, "both for the Medicaid and PAD programs, where those
prescriptions, when dispensed, have some clinical issue that falls
outside the guidelines as determined by a state review board. We make
clinical decisions and may deny payment for the state."
The druggists, says Pardes, are not necessarily at fault when payment
is denied. Instead, problems are often caused by a patient’s going
to multiple pharmacies. "One druggist cannot see the prescriptions
that the beneficiary goes elsewhere to get dispensed. So when the
druggists enter the information and dial to a central clearing
computer,
they get an answer back right away if there is a problem. The other
option is putting the patient in jeopardy because there is a problem
with medication," she says.
The time lag in getting an answer back, during working hours, is
generally
less than 15 minutes, Pardes says, but if her office is not open —
and it is not an emergency, a druggist will hold the prescription.
For emergencies, a pharmacist with a laptop and dial-in access to
the system is on 24-hour call.
Road East, Princeton 08540. Marion Pardes, director of operations.
609-919-1892. Home page: http://www.fhsc.com.
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Expansions: Guardian Drug
Arvind
Dhruv, president. 609-394-5300; fax, 609-394-5301.
The private label manufacturer of stomach remedies is expanding from
72 Prince Street in Trenton to a facility formerly occupied by Block
Drug. It purchased the 135,000 foot single-floor building with a $7.5
million bond floated by the New Jersey Development Authority. The
target date for move-in is March.
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Expansions: nex-i.com
Baseman, president. 609-497-9400; fax, 609-497-9400. Home page:
The Research-park based firm that provides pre-packaged, plug-in local
area networks for companies and property managers sold 30 percent
of its ownership to AlphaNetSolutions of Cedar Knolls — the
company
that had been a lead investor in the first round of venture funding.
AlphaNet will provide technical services and network security
products,
although not exclusively, as the company expands into 11 different
states and the District of Columbia.
Nex-i.com also has space at 600 Alexander Road. Since last July the
company has grown from two to 15 employees (U.S. 1, August 18, 1999).
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Expansions: Princeton Softech
201, Princeton 08542-1423. Joseph A. Allegra, president. 609-688-5000;
fax, 609-497-0302. Home page:
http://www.princetonsoftech.com.
In spite of computer translations program, language translators are
still in demand. When it comes to moving databases between different
program languages, that can still be a problem. Princeton Softech
has announced that its suite of enterprise data management tools now
supports a half-dozen operating environments, and the most recent
is Informix.
"Data migration across heterogenous platforms and databases is
fundamental to so many business strategies, such as testing,
archiving,
business intelligence, and data sharing," says Joe Allegra,
president
of Princeton Softech, in announcing the Informix addition and a new
contract with Sandia National Laboratories. Later this year the
wholly-owned
subsidiary of Computer Horizons Corp will move more than double its
space with a move to University Park on Alexander Road.
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Expansions: Seber Logistics
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Expansions: Seber Logistics
Circle,
Princeton 08540. James J. Seber CMC, president. 732-940-1200; fax,
732-940-1284. Home page: http://www.seberinc.com.
Seber Logistics Consulting, which specializes in supply chain
analysis,
customer service, and network analysis, is expanding from North Centre
Drive to a 2,000 square foot office at Montgomery Knoll (U.S. 1,
November
18, 1988).
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Expansions: Interpool, MicroTech, Personal Computer Rentals
08540. Martin Tuchman, chairman and CEO. 609-452-8900; fax,
609-452-8211.
Home page: http://www.interpool.com.
East, Princeton 08540. Allen M. Olinger, president. 609-987-0077;
fax, 609-987-1011. Home page: http://www.mtlc.com.
East, Princeton 08540. 609-720-1411; fax, 609-720-0814. Home page:
Expertise that works for leasing trucks will work for leasing
computers,
or so it would seem. MicroTech Leasing Corporation — a subsidiary
of Interpool, which handles chassis and container leasing systems
— expanded last year by buying Personal Computer Rental
corporation
(PCR), and PCR has moved from Cedar Brook Corporate Center to join
both MicroTech and Interpool at 211 College Road.
Using MicroTech’s funds, PCR bought more than $1 million worth of
equipment to rent, lease, or sell, and the College Road office is
its headquarters for 25 locations nationwide. The synergies are many:
PCR rents computers chiefly to the trade show industry, and MicroTech
leases such technology as PCs, network equipment, and telephony
equipment
to emerging growth companies.
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New in Town: Chirotech Technology Limited
Suite 313, Princeton 08540. Joseph Marasco, vice president.
609-750-9555;
fax, 609-760-99560.
With more than 70 employees worldwide, this pharmaceutical chemical
firm established a marketing and development office at the Carnegie
Center last fall. A developer of key chemical intermediates, it is
headquartered in Cambridge, England, and also has operations in the
United Kingdom, India, and Japan.
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New In Town: KFS & Associates
Holly Fronczak, account manager. 609-688-9992; fax, 609-688-9993.
Home page: http://www.kfsassoc.com.
This is the East Coast office of an Indiana-based advertising and
marketing firm that serves various industries. The office opened in
December.
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Crosstown Moves: Infinite Data Structures
101, Lawrenceville 08648. Robert Kelly, president. 609-219-0959; fax,
609-219-0459. Home page: http://www.infiniteds.com.
This firm is scheduled to move to 861 Alexander Road, formerly the
home of Princeton Polychrome, in early 2001. The deal was brokered
by Commercial Property Network for roughly $900,000. The company does
client-server development for bid and contract computer systems for
the pharmaceutical industry.
Parker Printing, a company that started out 60 years ago as a
letterpress
and stationery store in Trenton, acquired Polychrome, a high-tech
sheet-fed printer and separation house with a national reputation
for art reproduction (U.S. 1, April 26, 1995). As Parker
Communications
it consolidated Polychrome’s operations at 2630 Brunswick Pike.
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Crosstown Moves: MOI Inc.
Mila Montemayor, president. 609-730-8188; fax, 609-730-8111.
The consulting company moved from 2490 Pennington Road to
Lambertville,
closer to the owner’s residence. Phone and fax remain the same. The
firm focuses on marketing and strategic research, particularly for
the pharmaceutical industry.
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Crosstown Moves: Philips Semiconductors
08540. Anita Letzter, regional sales manager. 609-919-1133; fax,
609-919-0254.
Home page: http://www.vlsi.com.
After a stint in temporary space at 101 College Road, this 11-person
laboratory of a firm owned by a Dutch telecommunications pioneer has
made another move, to 4,700 square feet at 2 Research Way. Phone and
fax are new. The engineers here to custom design integrated circuits,
and the company was formerly known as VLSI Technology before it was
sold to Philips.
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Crosstown Moves: Telelogic
Per Blysa, vice president North America. 609-520-1935; fax,
609-520-8512.
Home page: http://www.telelogic.com.
This software design firm, a division of Saab Combitech Group, moved
from 200 to 206 Rockingham Row. It makes a software design tool, based
on SDL, used by telecommunications firms. The phone and fax numbers
are the same.
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Deaths
Ernest Johnston, 61, on January 26. The first black reporter
at the Star-Ledger, he had been managing editor of the Amsterdam News
and had written several articles for U.S. 1 Newspaper. Johnston
interviewed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a few weeks before the
civil rights leader was assassinated in 1968.
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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