Acorda therapeutics announces company intranet named one of ten best
in the world
Ardsley, n.y.--(business wire)--acorda therapeutics, inc. (nasdaq: acor) and partner klick health today announced that acorda’s intranet site has been named as one of the ten best in the world by the nielsen norman group, leading experts in web usability, which annually recognizes the global top 10 intranet sites for innovation and usability. acorda’s intranet was launched in late 2011. prior to designing the site, the internal development team and klick health conducted interviews throughout the company to determine what types of functionality and features would best allow employees to access and share information, improve efficiency across the organization, and help acorda’s associates stay connected to the company’s mission and to one another. the site launch was preceded by a company-wide contest to name the new intranet. the acorda intranet development team selected “synapse,” a specialized structure in the brain necessary for nerve conduction and communication, to tie the site’s purpose and name back to acorda’s mission to develop therapies for people with neurological diseases. “we’ve expanded rapidly over the past five years. we needed to develop a tool that would help our associates remain connected to the company’s culture and values, and keep pace with the growing business needs of our organization," said ron cohen, m.d., acorda’s president and ceo. “we invested a lot of time, together with klick, in learning how our employees wanted to use an intranet. synapse now houses easily accessible information ranging from human resources forms to r&d updates; it’s also a living site with social features that allow employees to communicate with company-wide updates and messages. and we’re excited about the potential for new applications of synapse as we continue to grow.” klick health has been working with acorda since 2009 on a variety of online initiatives. “through our partnership with acorda we’ve been able to accomplish some amazing things this year, earning a place atop the coveted nielsen norman group global top 10 intranet list being chief among them,” said leerom segal, president and ceo of klick health. “with similar cultures, growth rates, and company size, we were a natural partner to develop this tool to truly address acorda’s needs. building off the success of our own intranet system, genome, we were able to work with acorda to provide its employees with a great opportunity to preserve their culture while optimizing the way they get things done.” about acorda therapeutics acorda therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing therapies that restore function and improve the lives of people with ms, spinal cord injury and other neurological conditions. acorda markets ampyra® (dalfampridine) extended release tablets, 10 mg, in the united states as a treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (ms). this was demonstrated by an improvement in walking speed. ampyra is marketed outside the united states as fampyra® (prolonged-release fampridine tablets) by biogen idec under a licensing agreement from acorda. ampyra and fampyra are manufactured under license from alkermes pharma ireland limited. the company also markets zanaflex capsules® (tizanidine hydrochloride) and zanaflex tablets, a short-acting drug for the management of spasticity. acorda also receives sales royalties on tizanidine hydrochloride capsules, an authorized generic version of zanaflex capsules, distributed by actavis, inc. under its agreement with acorda. acorda has an industry-leading pipeline of novel neurological therapies. the company is developing diazepam nasal spray for treatment of certain epileptic seizures. it is also studying ampyra to improve a range of functional impairments caused by ms, as well as its potential for use in other neurological conditions, including cerebral palsy and post-stroke deficits. in addition, acorda is developing clinical stage compounds ac105 for acute treatment of spinal cord injury, ggf2 for treatment of heart failure and rhigm22, a remyelinating monoclonal antibody, for the treatment of ms. ggf2 is also being investigated in preclinical studies as a treatment for neurological conditions such as stroke and spinal cord injury. chondroitinase, an enzyme that encourages nerve plasticity in spinal cord injury, is in preclinical development. about klick klick health is the world’s largest independent digital health agency. they are laser focused on creating digital solutions that engage and educate healthcare providers about life-saving treatments. klick also helps inform and empower patients to manage their health and play a central role in their own care. every solution hinges on klick’s in-house expertise across the digital universe – strategy, creative, analytics, instructional design, user experience, relationship marketing, social and mobile. www.klick.com about nielsen norman group nielsen norman group (http://www.nngroup.com) in an evidence-based user experience research, training and consulting firm that advises companies on how to improve the bottom line through human-centered design of products and services. nn/g principals jakob nielsen, don norman and bruce "tog" tognazzini are each world-renowned user experience experts who were advocating human-centered design and usability long before it became popular to do so. founded in 1998 and headquartered in silicon valley, nn/g evaluates interfaces of all kinds and guides the critical design decisions that make websites, applications, intranets and products achieve their full potential for businesses and their users. acorda forward-looking statements this press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995. all statements, other than statements of historical facts, regarding management's expectations, beliefs, goals, plans or prospects should be considered forward-looking. these statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including our ability to successfully market and sell ampyra in the u.s.; third party payers (including governmental agencies) may not reimburse for the use of ampyra or our other products at acceptable rates or at all and may impose restrictive prior authorization requirements that limit or block prescriptions; the risk of unfavorable results from future studies of ampyra or from our other research and development programs, including diazepam nasal spray or any other acquired or in-licensed programs; we may not be able to complete development of, obtain regulatory approval for, or successfully market diazepam nasal spray or other products under development; the occurrence of adverse safety events with our products; delays in obtaining or failure to obtain regulatory approval of or to successfully market fampyra outside of the u.s. and our dependence on our collaboration partner biogen idec in connection therewith; competition, including the impact of generic competition on zanaflex capsules revenues; failure to protect our intellectual property, to defend against the intellectual property claims of others or to obtain third party intellectual property licenses needed for the commercialization of our products; failure to comply with regulatory requirements could result in adverse action by regulatory agencies; and the ability to obtain additional financing to support our operations. these and other risks are described in greater detail in acorda therapeutics' filings with the securities & exchange commission. acorda may not actually achieve the goals or plans described in its forward-looking statements, and investors should not place undue reliance on these statements. forward-looking statements made in this release are made only as of the date hereof, and acorda disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this release.
