SAFE-BioPharma Association Announces First Companies to Participate in Its Newly Launched Vendor Partner Program

Adobe, Arcot, IBM Among First to Create SAFE-Enabled Products to Reduce Paper and Costs in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industries

New York -- December 29, 2005 — SAFE-BioPharma Association today announced that six leading technology companies have agreed to participate in a new program which will help create SAFE-enabled business applications, infrastructure, services and identity credentials for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. SAFE-BioPharma Association has developed and licenses a digital signature standard that allows the secure and private exchange of information across a multitude of existing systems.

Adobe, Arcot Systems, CoreStreet, nCipher, IBM, and Kyberpass are the first to participate in the SAFE Vendor Partner Program, which encourages development of SAFE-enabled, off-the-shelf software and applications for a broad range of uses within the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Each program and application will be thoroughly tested by SAFE-BioPharma Association to guarantee it functions according to SAFE requirements.

SAFE signatures are legally enforceable and regulatory compliant. The SAFE standard makes it easier and less costly for companies, government agencies, researchers and others to communicate sensitive information and conduct electronic transactions within a secure environment.

Use of the SAFE system facilitates paperless transactions within the global healthcare industry. As a result, SAFE is expected to significantly reduce the cost associated with medical research and drug development, as well as costs associated with many other transactions in those industries. Government, scientific and regulatory agencies that have committed to adopting the SAFE standard include the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA).

"The introduction of SAFE-enabled applications will assure widespread interoperability of disparate health information technologies," said Mollie Shields-Uehling, president and CEO of SAFE-BioPharma Association. "This will have a significant impact on paper and cost reduction." Vendors interested in the SAFE Vendor Partner Program can visit www.safe-biopharma.org for more information.

About SAFE
SAFE (www.safe-biopharma.org) is an integral component of the global eHealth movement. The SAFE digital identity, which facilitates both strong authentication and the creation of digital signatures, has been standardized with the specific goal of achieving interoperability in a secure and trusted environment. SAFE digital signatures are being used in business-to-business and business-to-regulator transactions. SAFE signatures are legally enforceable and regulatory compliant.