BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 25, 2008) - ideaPoint, an emerging leader in web software applications that enable Open Innovation business models, today announced the launch of its flagship product, ideaPoint™ Innovation Portal -- a fully integrated Web application that connects inventors with organizations to streamline the development of new commercial technologies. Currently serving companies in the Life Sciences and Healthcare market, ideaPoint has a growing sales pipeline of more than 500 companies with early revenues from customers such Pfizer and six divisions of Johnson & Johnson, including the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science and Technology (COSAT), Ethicon, DePuy and Cordis. The solution is now available as an enterprise software suite, or as a hosted service.

The ideaPoint Innovation Portal has enabled these large innovative companies to seek, identify, evaluate and track opportunities from external sources for the purpose of commercializing selected products and technologies. It is the only integrated software platform covering the depth and breadth of open innovation needs across R&D driven organizations.

"Our research indicates that the market opportunity within Life Sciences alone exceeds $400 million, and stretches to $2 Billion when considering other R&D focused industries," offered Scott Shaunessy, president and CEO of ideaPoint. "Big companies today cannot afford to develop their own R&D and rely on external partners for the majority of their innovation. ideaPoint fills the innovation pipeline by connecting companies with external innovation sources, transforming insights and materials gained from external sources into viable new products."

First Customer Johnson & Johnson

"We were looking for a way to interact with our partners from around the world," said Dave Bowser, VP corporate office of science and technology, Johnson & Johnson. "We designed a process for how to capture ideas, but couldn't find a software solution that met our needs. We needed a solution with backend databases to house our information as well as a quick and easy-to-use interface. The ideaPoint team built exactly that system for us."

Open innovation is an emerging trend among large organizations wanting to innovate and collaborate more effectively with external partners, such as universities and research hospitals; private & government labs; emerging companies and suppliers; and OEMs. In an environment where the innovation opportunity management process is ad hoc, disorganized and frustrating for both inventors and corporations, ideaPoint provides a disciplined, structured approach. By enabling the ideaPoint solution, organizations have the ability to effectively manage opportunities and relationships across the spectrum of corporate development options, including licensing, discovery research, strategic sourcing, global alliances, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions and corporate venture capital.

"If we didn't have the ideaPoint software, we could never have handled the amount of opportunities we were getting," added Youseph Yazdi, corporate director of science and technology, Johnson & Johnson. "ideaPoint has helped us build and grow relationships with external research partners by giving them visibility into the evaluation process and assurance that their IP is being protected. We are very happy with the investment and appreciate that other companies can now benefit from this solution as well."

Key features of ideaPoint™ Innovation Portal:

--  Submission -- screening process assures that only well thought-out
    ideas are submitted.
--  Initial Assessment -- easy initial assessment allows for ideas not
    meeting criteria to be rejected with one click. The submitter is instantly
    notified of their status in the review process via email.
--  Deeper Look -- domain experts can be called upon to review ideas that
    are potential innovation opportunities.
--  Confidentiality Disclosure -- once a CDA is signed and submitted, the
    system regulates all confidential information so that only authorized
    parties have access.
--  Milestones -- project evaluation stages through commercialization can
    be set as milestones for easy look up and reporting purposes.
--  Funding Management -- funding amounts can be established and scheduled
    for allocation.
--  Contact and Institution Management -- user-friendly look-ups and cross
    referencing by project, individual, or institution.
    

Since being established in 2007, ideaPoint has been funded by its founders. Having established a beachhead in Life Sciences, the company is seeking expansion capital to execute on its first mover advantage and to establish itself as the market leader in Open Innovation Solutions. For more information please visit the company's website at www.idea-point.com.

About ideaPoint

ideaPoint™ is a provider of web software and information technology services that help organizations leverage all sources of innovation and drive growth. The ideaPoint management team consulted with industry business development experts to streamline their innovation management process and improve communication with the inventor community. The company's primary product, the ideaPoint Innovation Portal, was successfully deployed first at Johnson & Johnson's Corporate Office of Science and Technology in 2004.

Founded in August 2007, the ideaPoint group had been doing customer web application development for more than 10 years with various companies in the Life Science and Pharmaceutical space. With roles-based workflow tools and deep application functionality, ideaPoint is the only integrated software platform covering the depth and breadth of open innovation needs for R&D driven organizations. ideaPoint is available as an enterprise software suite, or as a hosted service.

About Johnson & Johnson

Caring for the world one person at a time inspires and unites the people of Johnson & Johnson. We embrace research and science -- bringing innovative ideas, products and services to advance the health and well-being of people. Our 119,500 employees at more than 250 Johnson & Johnson companies work with partners in health care to touch the lives of over a billion people every day, throughout the world.

Contact Information: Press Contacts: Emerge PR Jennifer Moebius 617-729-3183 jmoebius@emergepr.com