Aegate News

Aegate moves forward into commercialisation phase and appoints Gary Noon as CEO

23rd November 2005

Aegate, a wholly owned subsidiary and specialist venture company for PA Consulting Group, has developed a commercially viable solution to combat one of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest and growing patient safety issues - the trade in counterfeit and fake drugs. Authentication at the point of dispensingTM enables investment in mass serialisation security technologies such as bar code and RFID to be effectively leveraged as a brand protection mechanism. Sales of counterfeit prescription medicines are forecast to reach $75 billion by the end of the decade, nearly doubling current levels and outgrowing the annual growth rate of legitimate pharmaceutical sales.

Following the outstanding success of Aegate's pilot programme in the UK, the company is now in the planning phase for commercial launch and roll-out in the USA, UK and Belgium during 2006. Against this background, Gary Noon has been appointed as CEO of Aegate with the specific remit to lead this commercialisation programme and realise the market potential of the Aegate solution.

Gary Noon has 25 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry, fulfilling a number of roles including senior positions in general management, marketing, business development and sales in the US and Europe. He has worked for many of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, Bristol Myers Squibb, Glaxo Wellcome and Warner Lambert and was President of IMS Health in the US. He has particular expertise in strategic marketing, supply chain management and product development and commercialisation. Before joining Aegate, Gary was Senior Vice President and Head of Pharmaceuticals at Diversa Corporation.

Gary Noon commented:

"I am very excited to be joining a company that is at the forefront of solving one of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest and growing issues - the significant impact on patient safety of fake and illegally diverted medicines. Aegate's pilot has demonstrated that Authentication at the point of dispensingTM is pragmatic, scalable and extremely effective in all dispensing environments. I am looking forward to leading the commercial roll-out and working together with all those key stakeholders who are dedicated to patient safety, to deliver a secure and trusted platform."

Ian Rhodes, the current CEO of Aegate, will take up the position of Vice Chairman of Aegate, and remain on the Board as a Non Executive Director of the company. Ian is also taking up the role of Deputy Group Head for PA's Global Technology Group, with effect from 1 January 2006.

Ian Rhodes, commenting on Gary Noon's appointment, said:

"I am delighted that Gary Noon has joined us, Gary has the ideal mix of industry experience, management, and technical skills to lead the growth of Aegate and oversee the commercialisation of our solution. Authentication at the point of dispensingTM has been successfully tested in the 'real world' pharmacy environment and a full scale commercial system is in the final stages of completion. Gary's appointment will build on this and ensure the successful launch of this important patient safety service in 2006."

Jon Moynihan, Chairman of Aegate and Executive Chairman of PA Consulting Group, commented:

"Gary Noon was the outstanding candidate for this role and we are delighted to welcome him to Aegate. His extensive knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, coupled with his leadership skills and entrepreneurial drive will help to take Aegate to the next stage of development. The Aegate solution is ground-breaking and can make a major contribution to patient safety. Gary will now lead the development of the service for commercial use and extend its geographic coverage. This is an exciting time for Aegate and I am confident that Gary will help to exploit the significant market potential of Aegate's unique 'Authentication at the point of dispensingTM' system.