Nextance and Capgemini Form Alliance to Address Life Sciences Imperatives; Partnership to Increase Revenue and Compliance with Enterprise Contract Management

Business Wire, Jan 18, 2005

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Nextance Inc., the solutions provider setting the standard for enterprise contract management (ECM), announced today a partnership with Capgemini U.S. LLC, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, that combines the expertise of the two industry leaders to address the difficult and evolving challenges in the life sciences market.

The alliance delivers new value to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare diagnostics companies by integrating leading ECM solutions with business processes that impact revenue and market share. Capgemini and Nextance also plan to collaborate to develop new solutions to help these businesses address gaps in their sales process not filled by today's ERP, pricing, rebate or royalty management products.

Under political, economic and regulatory pressures, the life sciences industry is facing significant challenges, including: compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; more stringent FDA quality requirements; managing information privacy; downward pricing pressure; and market share battles. These business drivers point towards a critical need to make business easier for trading partners; close new sales and licensing deals faster; ensure compliance; improve visibility into the returns of sales and IP-related agreements; and maximize revenue from existing products and relationships.

"New industry imperatives have created a clear gap that limits the ability of life sciences companies to succeed," explained Joseph Coppola, vice president and leader of Contracts Management Services & Solutions within Capgemini's Life Sciences Practice. "With Nextance's products and aggressive vision, we can help our clients bridge that gap with an urgently-needed solution that comes only from linking ECM technology with best-practice business processes as well as other tech investments companies may already have in place. There is so much value in that synergy that we'd like to eventually drive ECM throughout all our client industries."

A myriad of product lines and complex contractual relationships with distributors, providers, hospitals and government agencies magnifies the difficulty of managing a life sciences business. Capgemini's deep understanding of contract lifecycle management in life sciences, combined with Nextance's proven success in managing the most complex of contractual agreements and processes, enable businesses to optimize the source of their ability to execute high-profit and low-risk strategies -- the contracts at the heart of their relationships.

"Enterprise contract management is one of the last technology frontiers in life sciences," stated Dale Hagemeyer, research director for Gartner, Inc. "There is a tremendous, untapped opportunity for new ECM technology to accelerate efforts in CRM, Salesforce Automation and Pricing Management, covering the last mile in revenue optimization. Further, the complex and fluid workings of a life sciences company demand solutions that are likewise flexible and complementary to their processes and systems."

Driving Revenue Through Trading Partner and IP Agreements

The alliance delivers an effective strategy and flexible solution in ECM -- complete with contract analysis, process and compliance management capabilities -- necessary to increase the lifetime value of their existing contractual relationships, better control internal processes and increase speed of execution when building new relationships. Life sciences companies can now use their sales and IP contracts as a competitive advantage, with the potential to:

--Enhance visibility and analysis of trading partner/IP contracts and purchasing/licensing behavior across all product lines and business units;

--Increase the ROI and performance of contracts through ongoing contract management activities to help meet volume, market share and quality commitments;

--Minimize revenue leaks by matching rebates and chargebacks to contracted terms, tracking IP licenses and correcting royalty underpayments;

--Optimize contract initiation and negotiation processes to improve internal speed of execution and responsiveness to all trading partners;

--Manage IP assets to leverage new opportunities and expedite time-to-market;

--Mitigate risk by addressing compliance, e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley, from the start.

The world-class alliance supports the compelling market need for Nextance's recently announced Revenue and IP Optimization solutions. With contract sales making up 50-85% of total sales in life sciences, ECM can make a significant impact on revenue generated from commitments, milestones and obligations -- augmenting traditional revenue management activities focused on rebates, chargebacks and administrative fees. Only Nextance provides fully XML-based solutions that allow life sciences companies to continually adapt to changing regulations and process requirements.

"Nextance and Capgemini's combined industry expertise and thought-leadership create a rare offering for the life sciences industry, enabling companies to successfully run their businesses in a more demanding market with increasing restrictions," said Kyle Bowker, president and chief executive officer of Nextance. "This alliance will help both companies add even greater value to existing customers while opening up opportunities with new customers who are looking to take the next step in managing compliance and the success of their sales, licensing and procurement initiatives."