MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2000--AmeriSource Health Corporation (NSYE:AAS), one of the nation's leading providers of pharmaceuticals, announced today the executive appointments to lead the Company's E-commerce and new business initiatives.
George Birchfiel, has been named Vice President E-commerce Sales & Marketing and David Senior has been named Vice President Business Development.
AmeriSource President and CEO, R. David Yost said, "With the new economy evolving at lightning speed, AmeriSource has aggressively pursued a myriad of new business ventures and e-commerce partnerships to provide its partners with solutions to meet their business objectives. By linking the inherent synergies of the virtual world to our business model, we expect to elevate marketing strategies and yield further cost efficiencies for our partners on both sides of the healthcare supply channel. With the combined efforts of these two outstanding individuals, not only will AmeriSource provide innovative products and solutions, but will further enhance the delivery of healthcare."
Over the last ten years, George Birchfiel has been the catalyst in developing the Company's B2B activities and was the chief architect of AmeriSource's proprietary and electronic computerized healthcare ordering system, Echo(R).
Under his guidance, this flexible ordering system, which exceeds reporting requirements and improves inventory management, is now in the latter stages of development for Internet applications. In his new capacity, he will oversee the voluminous demand to expand the presence of VIP-- the Virtual Internet Pharmacy-- on the World Wide Web.
VIP, a customized business to consumer Internet offering, is the competitive marketing solution developed by AmeriSource for its retail pharmacy customers. Mr. Birchfiel has spent the senior years of his tenure in the AmeriSource Technology Group where he earned a series of increasingly responsible positions.
David Senior joins AmeriSource as the Vice President Business Development. He will be responsible for overseeing the development of new business ventures, mergers and acquisitions, co-marketing and strategic partnerships.
With ten years of experience across the healthcare industry, Mr. Senior most recently served as a Manager of The Wilkerson Group, a leading healthcare consulting firm and now a division of IBM. While at The Wilkerson Group, he provided strategic advice to a range of clients including health-related distribution, pharmaceutical, and managed care companies.
In addition, he has also provided counsel to e-business start-ups and advised venture capital firms on healthcare related investment opportunities. Prior to his tenure with The Wilkerson Group, he most recently worked in Ernst & Young's Healthcare Strategy, Marketing and Managed Care consulting practice.
Mr. Senior received a master's degree in Health Administration from Yale University and a B.A. degree in Economics from Duke University.
AmeriSource, with over $10 billion in operating revenue, is one of the nation's leading, full-service wholesale distributors of pharmaceutical products and related healthcare services. Headquartered in Malvern, PA, the Company serves its base of 21,000 customer accounts through a national network of 24 strategically located distribution facilities.
AmeriSource is the industry's largest provider of pharmaceuticals to the acute care/institutional market. For more information about AmeriSource, visit our website at www.amerisource.com.
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties.
Certain factors such as competitive pressures, restructuring initiatives, continued industry consolidation, changes in customer mix, changes in pharmaceutical manufacturer pricing and distribution policies, the loss of one or more key customer or supplier relationships and other matters contained in the Company's Form 10-K for fiscal year 1999 and other public documents could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.
Accordingly, investors are cautioned against putting undue reliance on any such statements, as no assurance can be given that the assumptions underlying such statements will prove to have been correct. AmeriSource disclaims any obligations to announce publicly the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements herein to reflect future events or developments.
CONTACT: AmeriSource Health Corporation
MaryBeth Alvin, Director, Investor Relations
610/993-3411
malvin@amerisource.com