TargetRx Unveils First Industry Analysis Linking Pharmaceutical Sales Force Effectiveness with Physician Prescribing

Assessment Based on Sales Force Quality, Rather than Popularity

Abbott Laboratories Ranks #1 with Primary Care Physicians; Genentech Ranks #1 with Specialists

Horsham, PA - March 20, 2006 - TargetRx today launched the 2005 Pharmaceutical Sales Force Quality Analysis,a groundbreaking alternative to conventional surveys that provides senior pharmaceutical executives with an evaluation of the quality of their sales and marketing activities as they relate to actual physician prescribing.

The first installment in the TargetRx Executive Insight Series, the Pharmaceutical Sales Force Quality Analysis assesses the performance of pharmaceutical sales forces in the U.S., benchmarking 11 pharmaceutical sales forces that call on primary care physicians and 15 pharmaceutical sales forces that call on physician specialists against each other. The analysis draws conclusions based on 2005 performance, and - for the first time - ties sales force effectiveness to physician prescribing. Moreover, the analysis provides pharmaceutical companies with key opportunities for improving their market position.

Specific Drivers of Success Can Now be Measured and Managed to Improve Performance
The TargetRx 2005 Pharmaceutical Sales Force Quality Analysis is the industry's only assessment to clearly identify key drivers of success and offer practical recommendations for improving performance. Designed as a guide for senior management, the analysis identifies six key drivers that influence sales force effectiveness - ultimately helping pharmaceutical companies capitalize on their opportunities and make better-informed decisions regarding their sales and marketing initiatives.

"Other reports available today tell you how many doctors like each companies' sales reps or even which company has the most polite sales force. While it may be interesting trivia, that information provides no real value in terms of improving your company's performance," said Mike Luby, CEO of TargetRx. "The true value comes when you can answer questions such as, 'Are my sales and marketing strategies translating into increased market share?' and 'What do we need to do more or less of to be successful in driving market share?' This analysis addresses these questions and provides a level of insight that is unique, clear and powerful."

The Difference Between Prom Queen and Valedictorian
The sales force effectiveness surveys offered to the pharmaceutical industry today are based on physician polling with no link to business performance and provide little value and essentially no actionable information. TargetRx's 2005 Pharmaceutical Sales Force Quality Analysis revolutionizes the industry's approach to evaluating effectiveness by focusing on sales force quality, which indicates how well a company's sales execution motivates physicians to prescribe its products for appropriate patients. The TargetRx analysis reveals how well a sales force is executing, based on the major drivers of physician prescribing.

The overall rankings are based on TargetRx's Sales Force Quality (SFQTM) score, a relative index that measures the likelihood that a sales force's execution will drive market share in the coming month. In addition, performance is benchmarked on each of the key drivers of success to provide insight into specific areas of strength and weakness for each brand and company. Data have been included for a total of 83 brands in the primary care physician analysis and 116 brands in the specialist analysis.

"A company like Abbott might be listed at the bottom of the list in another company's survey, if, for example, the physicians polled responded that other companies' reps were more 'likeable,'" said Luby. "In our analysis, however, Abbott ranks number one among primary care physicians based on factors such as the utilization of company-crafted marketing materials and the focused messages contained therein, the ability of the sales force to effectively help physicians identify appropriate patients for therapy, and the consistency of daily field execution by the sales force. Genentech ranks as the number one company calling on specialist physicians based on the same criteria.

"We view traditional reports much like voting for prom queen," continued Luby. "The TargetRx analysis reveals which company has earned valedictorian status as our rankings are based on performance, not just popularity."

The following companies are included in the benchmarking: Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffman-La Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Schering-Plough, TAP Pharmaceutical Products, and Wyeth. "While the performance of 15 specific companies is benchmarked in the report, the analysis is based on data from a much larger base of products, and the findings from this analysis are valuable for any pharmaceutical or biotechnology company with a sales force in the U.S.," Luby added.

Predictive Modeling Based on Database of Physician Attitudes Provides Unprecedented Insight
All data for the analysis comes from the TargetRx database, which contains approximately 100,000 physician surveys relating to sales force interactions completed during 2005. This data was analyzed utilizing TargetRx,s predictive modeling framework built on more than 150 million questions posed by TargetRx and answered by more than 65,000 physicians in the U.S. over the past five years. The database has been built to capture information on a wide range of topics including promotional activities, product perceptions, interactions with patients and managed care influence, among others.

Data collected from physicians via survey are then merged with actual prescribing and other behavioral data and analyzed using proprietary analytic methods to develop predictive models of physician prescribing behavior. The proprietary analytics are based in part on TargetRx's patent-pending Method and System for Analyzing the Effectiveness of Marketing Strategies. TargetRx received notice of allowance on this patent application from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in January 2006. The unique method of collecting and analyzing data enables TargetRx to predict prescribing changes as well as decompose prescribing to understand what specific aspects of the promotion, product, or physicians' interactions with patients and payors are causing changes. This enables TargetRx to provide pharmaceutical companies with very specific insight into the effectiveness of marketing and sales programs and guidance to improve performance.

For more information about the TargetRx Pharmaceutical Sales Force Quality Analysis, please call 215-444-8900.

About TargetRx

TargetRx provides pharmaceutical and biotech companies with unique insight into the true drivers of product choice and adoption for their brands, helping clients to confidently take the actions that will grow their businesses and help patients. Serving the majority of the top 30 pharmaceutical and biotech companies, TargetRx enables clients to significantly improve the launch of new products and indications, physician segmentation and targeting, creation of professional messaging and materials, and sales and marketing execution and effectiveness. All TargetRx solutions are powered by our AdvantageBuilderSM normative database and validated predictive models, created from capturing in-depth physician attitudes on the "four forces" of prescribing - product, payor, promotion and patient - on new launches, marketing campaigns and physician-rep interactions on over 500 pipeline and inline brands and modeling these attitudes against actual prescribing behavior. For more information, visit www.targetrx.com.

Media Contact:

Joe Ford
Phone: 215-444-8722
jford@targetrx.com