The Sage Group assisted Noven Pharmaceuticals in the development and execution of a strategic acquisition program designed to move the company from its solid position as a leader in drug delivery, to a more integrated specialty pharmaceutical business model and to expand the company’s pipeline of specialty pharmaceutical products.

The corporate press release from our client Noven read:

"NOVEN COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF JDS PHARMACEUTICALS BackAcquisition Expands Business Model and Broadens New Product Pipeline
Phillip M. Satow, JDS CEO and Co-Founder, Appointed to Noven Board of Directors

Miami, FL, August 15, 2007 -- Noven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVN) today announced that it has completed the previously-announced acquisition of JDS Pharmaceuticals, LLC. JDS is a specialty pharmaceutical company that currently markets two branded prescription psychiatry products through a targeted sales force and is advancing a significant pipeline of high-potential products in psychiatry and women’s health.

Noven also announced that industry veteran Phillip M. Satow, JDS’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, was appointed to Noven’s Board of Directors, effective upon closing of the transaction.

Expanding Noven’s Capabilities & Pipeline
“We are confident that the acquisition of JDS will significantly increase our growth rate and sales and earnings potential over the longer term, and will greatly improve the visibility of our pipeline and financial goals,” said Robert C. Strauss, Noven’s President, CEO & Chairman.

“The acquisition builds upon our existing strengths and capabilities by adding the infrastructure, products and category expertise necessary to market and sell products ourselves,” said Strauss. “It also significantly expands our pipeline opportunities. The JDS pipeline has the potential to result in the launch of one new product a year for each of the next four years, including what we expect will be the industry’s first once-daily lithium product (Lithium QD), and a women’s health product (Mesafem™) that fits perfectly with Noven’s existing expertise in menopausal therapy. We also have an opportunity to leverage the JDS sales infrastructure by gaining access to other psychiatry products that complement the existing JDS psychiatry portfolio.”

The acquisition provides Noven with substantial immediate, mid-term and long-term benefits, including:
• A self-supporting, leveragable marketing/sales infrastructure, with two high-margin marketed products (Pexeva® and Lithobid®) and substantial expertise in the psychiatry category;
• A next-generation psychiatry pipeline that includes one pending New Drug Application (Stavzor™) and one product in Phase 3 trials (Lithium QD);
• A non-hormonal product (Mesafem™) entering Phase 3 for vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes/night sweats) associated with menopause that is highly complementary with Noven’s expertise in women’s health; and
• Substantially greater sales and gross margin potential, and greater control over the success of its products. ............"

Specifically, Sage led in the identification, evaluation and prioritization of a large number of specialty pharmaceutical companies according to their relative fit with a set of established criteria. In light of the fact that Noven was seeking the acquisition of a relatively small company, Sage’s extensive experience in providing strategic transactional assistance to small cap public and privately held life science companies was particularly useful in expanding the universe of potential targets. Having identified several high priority potential targets, Sage then worked with Noven to conduct additional comparative analyses which yielded the final prioritization and the selection of JDS Pharma as the primary target candidate. The acquisition was announced 7 months following the initiation of the Sage engagement.

The Sage Group can be contacted at any of the offices below:

US Corporate Office
The Sage Group Inc.
3322 Route 22 West
Building 2, Suite 201
Branchburg, NJ 08876 US
Attn: Wayne Pambianchi
Phone: 908-231-9644
Fax: 908-231-9692
Email: wpambianch@aol.com


European Corporate Office
Sage Healthcare Ltd.
Church Street Barns
Great Shelford
Cambridge CB2 5EL UK
Attn: Dr. Bill Mason
Phone: 44 (0) 1223 844128
Fax: 44 (0) 1223 847871
Email: wtm@sagehealthcare.com
Corporate Website:
http://www.sagehealthcare.com

Japan Corporate Office
Sage Japan Inc.
3-5-9 Shimoda-cho
Kohoku-ku
Yokohama
223-0064 Japan
Attn.: Yoshihiro Mizuta
Phone: 81-45-561-3717
Fax: 81-45-561-3743
Email: ymizuta@d03.itscom.net