Thomson Acquires BIOSIS Publishing Assets
PHILADELPHIA & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2004--Today, The Thomson Corporation announced that it has acquired the publishing assets of Biological Abstracts, Inc. and BIOSIS(R) -- including the world's largest life sciences abstracting and indexing service. BIOSIS offers both custom and standard information resources designed to fit the information needs of researchers, students, and information professionals worldwide. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1926, BIOSIS is the non-profit organization that produces vital databases and services for life sciences research, including Biological Abstracts(R), BIOSIS Previews(R), and Zoological Record. These databases are made available globally on a wide variety of platforms. The board of BIOSIS will continue to support their new mission under the interim name of The J.R.S. Foundation.
Thomson ISI was selected from a number of potential strategic partners following a detailed review process by the BIOSIS Board. After considering both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations, the Board concluded that Thomson ISI is in a unique position "to facilitate the understanding of the living world by helping researchers, educators, students and others access information relevant to the life sciences."
"We were delighted with the BIOSIS Board's decision. The acquisition of BIOSIS is in keeping with the Thomson vision to be the leading global provider of integrated information solutions to business and professional customers," said Mike Tansey, Chief Executive Officer of Thomson Scientific. "The integration of the BIOSIS content with the other Thomson Scientific information resources augments the total information solutions we provide to the scientific community." The BIOSIS information services will become part of Thomson ISI--a business unit of Thomson Scientific and Healthcare.
The BIOSIS product line will be integrated within ISI Web of Knowledge(SM)-- the multidisciplinary information solution that facilitates discovery by offering seamless navigation to the highest quality content, evaluation tools, and bibliographic management products.
About The Thomson Corporation
The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), with 2002 revenues from continuing operations of $7.5 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information, software tools and applications to more than 20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate training and assessment, and scientific research and healthcare. With operational headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Thomson has approximately 43,000 employees and provides services in approximately 130 countries. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto exchanges.
Its scientific solutions include Thomson ISI. A business of Thomson Scientific and Healthcare, ISI(R) is a global leader in providing essential, high quality Web-based information to over seven million researchers, information specialists, and administrators in diverse fields. Thomson ISI produces ISI Web of Knowledge--the single Web environment from which researchers can access, analyze, and manage information. For more information about Thomson ISI, visit www.thomsonisi.com
Other Thomson Scientific businesses include: Derwent Information--the leading authority in patent and scientific information solutions, Current Drugs--a leader in the delivery of integrated information services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, ISI ResearchSoft-- developer of the three most popular bibliographic software programs, TechStreet-- a digital content delivery company that provides full-text industry standards and specifications and Wila-Derwent--supplier of information services in relation to patents, trademarks and industrial designs.
The Thomson Corporation Thomson
Investor Relations John Kechejian,
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