Headquartered in Wisconsin with distribution facilities in Tennessee and California, DDN is a leading privately-held provider of outsourced services to the global life science industry. DDN mainly serves emerging brands, generics, biologics, and medical device companies looking to gain market share in the US explains Mark Wiesman, recently appointed as DDN President, after having served as COO for more than two years. "Since assuming the role of President, my number one priority has been to meet with our clients to ensure that we're delivering best-in-class services and providing what's needed to help them compete in the increasingly complex and competitive life science industry. We have produced dashboards using key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure our effectiveness, then reviewed the reports with our clients to make certain we're capturing the details they find most impactful." A subsidiary of the 152-year old Dohmen Company, DDN is independent and supply-chain neutral, customizing its services to the needs of its clients. Mr. Wiesman joined DDN in 2007 as Vice President of Finance and was quickly promoted to the Chief Operating Officer position. He was appointed President in May of this year. Prior to joining DDN, Mr. Wiesman served as VP and General Manager for VPI, LLC, a plastics company in Wisconsin, which he in turn joined after having managed a company that sold medical components to VPI. Prior to that he worked in accounting for Ernst & Young. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Marquette University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management." I was intrigued by DDN," he adds. "This was and still is a growing company in an interesting market: the life science industry is very dynamic. I wanted to take advantage of opportunities in this space. There is Increasing outsourcing in this industry and DDN can satisfy that market." DDN attracts clients in segments across the life science spectrum, including brands, generics, biologics and medical devices. No single client makes up more than 15 percent of total revenue, and this diversified client base has enabled DDN to prosper regardless of negative impact in any one segment during the global economic downturn. Interesting to note, according to state licensing information, 38 new pharmaceutical companies were registered in the United States in 2008; and 28 of those became DDN clients, a remarkable 75 percent share. Also, DDN has never lost a client due to a service failure. In helping to weather challenging economic times, the DDN team identifies and develops services specifically, to meet the needs of their client base. On that note, Mr. Wiesman emphasizes that the 300 + professional s they employ are 'very intensely client focused experts in this industry'. "Most people in our company grew up in the life science industry. So we have a very deep experience and knowledge level which I think differentiates us from our competitors. I also believe we offer the broadest product offering out of any privately-held outsourced services for these emerging pharmaceutical clients. In 2008, new revenue streams identified in the last year made up 5 percent of total revenue and today are still growing significantly. These achievements haven't gone by unnoticed. DDN was recognized with a Business Marketing Association (Milwaukee) 2009 Award of Excellence for its ongoing public relations campaign in 2008. The BMA Awards Committee consisted of a panel of impartial judges from corporate advertising management and agencies around the world, including London, L.A., Seattle and other major markets. We also have a very stable parent company. Dohmen has been in the health care services business for more than 150 years. " Today Dohmen leads a family of companies that can be broadly grouped together under one objective: to create efficiencies within the healthcare supply system. The group notably also includes RESTAT, which helps self funded employers and Group Health organizations better manage their healthcare spend. The Dohmen Company aims to continue to grow and diversify by adding more healthcare service companies that share their vision of making the healthcare supply system more efficient, affordable and accessible. Continued growth obviously also is a top priority for Mr. Wiesman as he continues to lead DDN. He says the US is their main market, but the company also has customers from outside the US. "We've been very successful in helping foreign companies enter the US market." This meets a great and global need: currently accounting for approximately 43 percent of the global prescription drug market by revenue, the US market obviously is too large and too important to be ignored by foreign life science companies. DDN was established in 1995 as a subsidiary of The F. Dohmen Co., a fifth generation, family-owned company that began in 1858 as a retail pharmacy a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and a wholesaler. Gradually, The F. Dohmen Co. shifted its focus solely to wholesale distribution, leading to the creation of DDN in 1995. "Dohmen identified unmet logistics needs in the life sciences industry which they believed could be met by DDN," Mr. Wiesman explains. "In 1996, Dohmen's current CEO Cynthia (Dohmen) LaConte acquired a Californian company, founding DDN. Since that time our business has grown organically, basically by listening to our customers understanding their needs and then meeting those needs with service offerings. In addition to straightforward distribution our customers asked us to provide sample distribution, returns handling, customer service, billing, invoice collection, charge backs, and Medicare reporting. In 2008, we further diversified and launched DDN Medical Affairs, which provides medical affairs services including: labelling, management, regulatory knowledge, product complaints handling, and the handling of medical and technical product enquiries from medical professionals. Our Medical Affairs business is really taking off." While companies are seeking to build a presence in the US, they will need to consider and plan for the commercialization of their product(s) in the country. And that is exactly where DDN aims to help. "We primarily target emerging and mid-tier pharmaceutical, biotech and device companies who are in the US or trying to enter the US," Mr. Wiesman adds. "We aim to fulfil their needs. Some just want us to provide distribution; others want a broader range of services such as customer service. We tailor our approach to each client, in order to meet their unique needs using best practice for each area of expertise. "Wiesman's ambitions for the future include expanding the company's services for mid-tier companies. He also aims for DDN to capture a large portion of the biogeneric market as he expects that to evolve over the next couple of years. Wiesman's global emphasis includes assisting Indian and Chinese manufacturers as they enter the US market. "Our sales force is making direct contact with companies across the globe. In the past we have formed relationships with representatives in other countries but it's primarily a direct sales strategy for us." Wiesman says biosimilars are also gaining momentum. They are described as synthetic or recombinant versions of natural biologic substances, including proteins such as enzymes or antibodies. Regulatory proceedings have long slowed down the biogenerics market but analysts say it is now at a crossroads. Some of the biggest selling biological drugs developed during the first phase of the biotechnology revolution in the 1980s, including human growth hormone (HGH) and insulin, have lost patent protection or are set to lose patent protection in the US in 2007 and beyond. This opens up the market currently worth $40 billion and growing at over 20% per year, which would obviously represent interesting growth potential for DDN, too. "Overall we just want to continue to meet the needs of emerging and mid-tier companies both in the US and outside the US," Mr. Wiesman concludes DDN at a glance By serving its clients in handling pharmaceutical logistics, DDN has expanded beyond these roots in logistics to become the largest privately held provider of comprehensive manufacturer-to-market services to the life-science industry. DDN professionals hail from virtually every sector of the lifesciences industry, giving the company in-depth experience in pharmaceuticals, biologics, diagnostics, and medical devices. DDN handles day-to-day operations, launches new companies, brings products to market, and helps lifesciences companies from outside the US to build a business in the US. top - home