- J&D & GfK RM - J And D Associates

J&D Associates & GfK Research Matters Agree on a New Client Platform Deal

Pharmaceutical specialist J&D Associates, the decision support consulting company, has agreed to work together with GfK Research Matters and market their EQM platform for use with GfK Research Matters Oncology tracking data. Under the agreement, the first EQM platforms including GfK Research Matters' cancer data will become available to clients in January 2009, with subsequent markets slated for delivery during the first half of next year.

The EQM software platform allows clients to view the market landscape and patient flow of different cancer indications in the form of a highly interactive model - allowing the tracking data to be used for new applications such as market forecasting, scenario planning, and accurate market modeling in terms of market size, structure and influences between key players.

David James the Managing Director of J&D Associates who developed the platform with his team of specialists commented: "We are delighted to announce the agreement with GfK Research Matters. We are combining the industry best forecasting platform with world-class cancer tracking data which will take clients much further in their understanding of current and future markets. EQM is a proven platform that we've used in single client projects for several years now and by rolling this out for use with syndicated services we're giving clients access to the best of both worlds."

The development was confirmed by Chris Krattiger the Managing Director of GfK Research Matters who said: "By working with J&D Associates we are able to offer our clients forecasting capabilities and it enables our clients to get into sensitivity analysis, combining data sets in one platform, and more accurate quantification of their markets. I think this really adds value to what is already very high quality data and packages the needs of clients into one user friendly software."

The EQM Oncology Software Platform will be available for the US, the main five EU markets including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain and for some of the indications also for China and Japan.

J&D Associates is a decision support consultancy that applies an integrated approach in the areas of Licensing, Clinical Decision Support, Launch Strategy Planning, Product Development, Commercialisation and Forecasting. The company was founded by partners Santanu Das and David James in 2005 in the UK. For more information contact Scott Davies, Marketing Director at J&D Associates on 0207 170 4097, sdavies@janddassociates.com.

GfK Research Matters AG is a subsidiary of the GfK group, one of the world's leading market research companies. GfK Research Matters are specialists in the field of Oncology.

The GfK group was established more than 70 years ago as Germany's first market research institute. The GfK Group is the No. 4 market research organization worldwide. Its activities cover the three business sectors of Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The Group has 115 companies covering over 100 countries. Of around 10,000 employees (as of September 30, 2008), 80% are based outside Germany. For more information please contact Chris Krattiger, Managing Director of GfK Research Matters AG at +41-61-226 9402, ckrattiger@gfkresearchmatters.com.