Agencourt Bioscience Corporation

Agencourt was started in July 2000 offering nucleic acid purification reagents based on its patented Solid Phase Reversible Immobilization (SPRI™) technology. Agencourt’s co-chief scientific officers were involved in the development of SPRI technology at the Whitehead Institute as part of the Human Genome Project. Agencourt quickly expanded to offer a suite of sequencing services based on SPRI nucleic acid purification technology. SPRI purification technology was used to sequence over a third of the human genome and has been adopted by many of the top genomic centers. Most recently, Agencourt was recognized as a leading sequencing center by the NIH and will participate in the sequencing of genomes of organisms identified as having biomedical importance.

Business Challenge

• The discovery phase of drug development is costly and inefficient. Approximately one third of drugs fail during Phase I clinical trials and about 75 percent fail during clinical tests overall. Given that the average cost to bring a drug to market today is $500 million and only 30 percent of the products that do make it to market provide return, pharmaceutical companies must compress various phases of their drug discovery pipeline.
• This demand to accelerate drug development combined with the knowledge base of the recently completed Human Genome Project has led to a proliferation of niche companies that are able to generate unprecedented amounts of medically useful data in a relatively short period of time. Agencourt faced the business challenge of rising above this crowded marketplace.

Nucleic Acid Purification Reagents

• DNA purification had become an integral part of many of today’s most common experimental techniques including microarray analysis, sequencing, RNAi studies and PCR. New cost effective, automation amenable nucleic acid purifications are required to satisfy the throughput and tightening budget of most life science laboratories.
• DNA purification market is dominated by a single well-known company that holds 70% of the market. Agencourt’s SPRI chemistry addresses the developing needs of researchers across the marketplace, but required exposure and product branding as a relative newcomer to this market.

Schwartz PR Strategy

• Develop strategic messages that establish and position Agencourt as a market leader in genomic and proteomic services that accelerate R&D processes at pharmaceutical companies and research institutions.
• Support sales efforts with key trade PR coverage that portrays Agencourt, its technology and solutions as industry leading and providing cost effective and efficient benefits to customers.
• Raise visibility for Agencourt as a company in business and local media. Position the Company as a sound, leading-edge corporation that integrates manufacturing principles throughout its fully automated facility, which results in greater throughput and quality of data with reduced costs.
• Stimulate discussion of the trend in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries toward outsourcing. Then, demonstrate the opportunity created for Agencourt, with real customer examples.
• Leverage Agencourt customers including the National Institutes of Health, Duke University Medical Center, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals to validate that Agencourt is playing a critical role in helping them increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their drug discovery process.
• Establish key Agencourt executives as industry experts on genomics, proteomics, the Human Genome Project, DNA sequencing, SNPs and other industry topics in design, engineering and scientific publications.
• Promote key milestones in clinical research.

Results

• Schwartz public relations has secured coverage that reflects Agencourt’s new corporate positioning in the following key trade and business outlets: The Boston Globe, Boston Business Journal, Genetic Engineering News, Genomics and Proteomics,Fast Company, Genomics Investing, New England Business Day, Venture Capital Analyst: Healthcare Edition, VentureWire, and WBIX 1060-AM’s “Boston Business Journal-AM Report.”
• Schwartz has placed news and feature stories that portray Agencourt’s technology and solutions as providing cost effective and efficient benefits to various customers. This exposure supports sales and effectively reaches Agencourt’s customer base. Schwartz secured a cover story featuring an Agencourt co-founder and customer in Genome Technology. Schwartz also secured coverage in the following media outlets: BioCompare, BioIndex, BioResearch, BioSpace, Biotech Equipment Update, BioWorld Today, Diagnostic & Imaging Week, Genetic Engineering News, Genome Technology, GenomeWeb, Interface Tech News, Mass High Tech, Medical Device Daily and R&D Directions.
• Schwartz has positioned Agencourt’s scientific researchers as industry “visionaries,” leveraging their vast experience in marrying the chemistries of genomics with high-throughput facilities. This has resulted in PR coverage in the following media outlets: American Clinical Laboratory, Biotech Magazine, Genomics and Proteomics, Genomika, National Public Radio, New England Cable News, Science Magazine and The Scientist.

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