America Online and MedscapeAnnounce Three-Year, $33 Million Strategic Alliance
September 7, 1999 08:22 AM
DULLES, Va. and NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 7, 1999--
Medscape to be a Key Healthcare Resource Across Several AOL Brands Comprising the Largest Consumer Audience in Cyberspace
America Online, Inc. AOL , the world's leading interactive services company, and Medscape, Inc., a leading provider of authoritative health and medical information on the Internet, today announced a three-year, $33 million strategic alliance that will leverage Medscape's vast array of consumer-based health information - including its soon-to-be-launched consumer health site, CBS Medscape, developed with CBS Corporation -- to the largest consumer audience in cyberspace.
Under the agreement, Medscape's extraordinary breadth and depth of consumer-focused content, will be brought to AOL's more than 18 million members and to the more than 2 million CompuServe members, as well as the millions more visitors to AOL.COM, Netscape Netcenter and Digital City. The two companies expect to introduce Medscape content across these AOL brands by late fall of this year.
Medscape will provide AOL with payments totaling $33 million over three years, and AOL will also receive warrants to purchase shares in Medscape. In addition, the companies will leverage Medscape's alliance with CBS Corporation through cross-promotional opportunities involving the consumer health site scheduled for launch this month. Medscape will develop customized, co-branded sites for each of the AOL brands and will integrate with AOL's calendaring and instant messaging tools. Medscape will also work toward a relationship with iPlanet to help develop end-to-end software and service solutions in order to ensure the scalability and performance of its network.
Bob Pittman, AOL's President and Chief Operating Officer, said, "With this new agreement, Medscape and America Online will provide Americans with greater access and deeper understanding of healthcare issues, as well as the same authoritative and trusted medical information used by professionals. We are delighted to have such a comprehensive new partnership with Medscape across our family of brands."
"A compelling aspect of the AOL-Medscape relationship centers on Medscape's ability to deliver in-depth, high-level medical information to consumers who want more than just introductory medical knowledge," said Paul Sheils, Medscape President and CEO. "Now, we have the chance to bring to millions of AOL members and visitors high-level content with a consumer interface so they can access the broadest range of health content, from basic information about their health or condition to articles their physicians read to our extremely useful, customized health management tools."
The authoritative Medscape content to be provided across the AOL brands is driven by an editorial staff led by Editor in Chief George D. Lundberg, MD, former Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association for 17 years. He has attracted an impressive Editorial Board of 20 of the world's leading physicians, clinicians and ethicists to guide the content for all of Medscape.
The July 1999 Media Metrix report indicated that AOL's Health Channel is the No. 1 health destination online, with almost 3 million unique users per month, more than twice as many visitors as other top health Web sites. This agreement will enable the companies to provide deeper, more extensive healthcare information, products and services to online Americans.
ABOUT AOL
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 18 million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers; and AOL MovieFone, the nation's No. 1 movie listing guide and ticketing service. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.
ABOUT MEDSCAPE
Medscape currently operates Medscape.com, www.medscape.com, a healthcare Web site that provides comprehensive, authoritative and timely medical information and interactive programs to physicians, allied healthcare professionals, such as pharmacists and nurses, and consumers. Medscape offers a wide range of high-quality medical information, including original authoritative articles written by renowned medical experts. Medscape also offers what is believed to be the Web's largest collection of free, peer-reviewed, full-text medical journal articles and one of the Web's most extensive libraries of continuing medical education accredited programs. Medscape supplements its medical content with a variety of non-medical information, community features and interactive programs that make Medscape.com a full-service healthcare destination Web site. As of June 30, 1999, Medscape.com had more than 1.2 million registered members worldwide, including 210,000 registered as physicians, 600,000 registered as allied health professionals and 400,000 registered as consumers.
Medscape plans to launch a consumer Web site, CBSMedscape, in September 1999 that is designed to help consumers make better informed healthcare decisions and to simplify management of their healthcare needs. On July 26, 1999, a revised registration statement relating to the securities proposed to be sold by Medscape, Inc. in an offering was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but has not yet become effective.
Note: This release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities proposed to be sold by Medscape in the offering, which will be made by means of a prospectus relating to those securities. The securities proposed to be sold by Medscape in the offering may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy nor shall there be any sales of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.
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