04/11/09 INTERVIEW: Ultrasis Hopes To Seal US JV Deal Next Year
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Interactive healthcare services provider Ultrasis PLC (ULT.LN) Wednesday said it is in talks with potential joint venture partners in the U.S. and hopes to seal a deal next year.
The company's products provide computerised cognitive behavioural therapy for depression, anxiety, and other stress-related conditions.
Ultrasis, which recently launched a Dutch version of its "Beating the Blues" computerised CBT treatment, already serves healthcare providers in some parts of the U.S.
"We're having significant discussions in the U.S. about our services, which have been prompted by changes from the Obama administration," Chief Executive Nigel Brabbins told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
He said any deals would likely take the form of licensing agreements.
"America spends a massive amount of money treating diabetes, obesity and things like that but they're not really tackling the depression which is prompting these health problems, so people aren't getting better," Brabbins said.
However, he said a recent shift in focus in the U.S. to tackling underlying mental health problems before physical conditions provides a big opportunity for Ultrasis to win more business.
"The market in the U.S. is worth more than $200 million and our aim is to find a partner with the delivery network to support our product," he said.
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27/01/11 Partnership Pact With UPMC To Develop, Drive Beating The Blues............
LONDON (Dow Jones)--Ultrasis PLC (ULT.LN), a provider of interactive health care services, Thursday announce a partnership with the UPMC Insurance Services Division which is part of the U.S. healthcare provider, UPMC.
MAIN FACTS:
-UPMC Insurance Services is investing $1.0 million to develop a U.S. specific version of "Beating the Blues" ("BtB"), which will be available, from July 2011, and will be available across the UPMC's provider services as well as through UPMC Insurance Services companies, which provide health benefits management to well over one million people in Medicare, Medicaid, EAP and Behavioural Health programs.
-Ultrasis and UPMC Insurance Services have further agreed to the formation of a 50:50 owned joint venture company to launch the U.S. BtB in the wider U.S. market.
-Both Ultrasis and UPMC will invest to develop and drive sales opportunities across U.S. states, government, insurance, primary care providers, major corporations and other health care providers seeking to enhance their mental health and wellbeing services.
-Both companies will collaborate on further research into BtB, extending its use to other depression-related co-morbid conditions,such as coronary heart disease, with a view to launching additional product and service solutions through the JV in the near future, and also to extend the use of Ultrasis' and UPMC's other wellbeing products and services.
-UPMC is an integrated global health enterprise based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of the leading health care systems in the United States and Western Pennsylvania's largest employer, with approximately 50,000 employees and revenues in excess of $8.0 billion.
