Markets
Personal Improvement Computer Systems (PICS), Inc. specializes in developing products that address major health issues such as tobacco addiction, obesity, hypertension and diabetes. Products are targeted to the consumer directly and to the professional community.

Consumer Market: PICS combines palm size computers with behavior modification to produce the most effective self-help products available today.

Professional Market: PICS utilizes a combination of its proprietary palm-size computer platform and proprietary Windows-based software to target three professional communities: dietitians and nutritionists, behavioral scientists and market researchers.

Track Record
To date, we have sold over 1,000,000 LifeSign units and over 10,000 DietMate units generating over $100,000,000 in sales.

Products
PICS has developed two proprietary computer platforms which are used in a variety of products:

LifeSign Platform: This credit-card-size computer is the basis for three consumer products that deal with the treatment of tobacco addiction: (1) The LifeSign Stop Smoking Program, (2) LifeSign for Teens and Young Adults (3) LifeSign for Dippers and Chewers. All three products are complete self-help programs.

DietMate Platform: This palm-size computer is the basis for three consumer products that deal with food related disease: (1) The DietMate Weight Loss Program, (2) The DietMate Cholesterol Reduction Program and (3) The DietMate Hypertension Treatment Program. All three products are complete self-help programs.

Integrated Desktop/Hand-Held Platform. This family of products combines the power of desk top computing (and ease of use of Windows) with the versatility of palm-size computers to deliver solutions to three professional communities: (1) The DietMate Professional gives dietitians and nutritionists sophisticated desk top software tools to design personalized diet regimens, download them into DietMate computers and subsequently upload data collected by patients for analysis and treatment planning. (2) The Self-Monitor System enables the professional behavioral scientist to develop flexible data collection protocols on a desk top computer and download them into palm-top computers, which are carried and used by patients or research subjects for self-monitoring. Data collected can then be uploaded to a personal computer for analysis. (3) The Professional Marketer is conceptually similar to the Self-Monitoring System, but provides a set of tools developed specifically for the professional market researcher.

Future Products. Products at various stages of development include comprehensive self-help Treatment programs for chronic headache, stress, diabetes, food allergies and tobacco addiction among low literacy populations.

Major Strengths

Highest Scientific Standards. All of our products have been developed in close collaboration with leading scientists, health educators, computer specialists and marketing professionals.

NIH Backing. Each of our products has been supported, in part, by grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To date, we have received over 20 grants from the various institutes of NIH, including the National Cancer Institute; the National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; the National Institute of Mental Health; the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Disease; the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; and the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Clinical Validation. Clinical studies, funded by the above grants and conducted by major medical institutions, prove that LifeSign is effective in helping people quit smoking and chewing tobacco. Other studies prove our DietMate products are effective for weight and cholesterol reduction. Consequently, PICS is in a unique position to make strong scientific claims (see Summary of Clinical Studies).

Broad Distribution. Our products lend themselves to distribution through multiple marketing multiple marketing channels and PICS has exploited a variety of consumer marketing channels including direct response, retail and business to business marketing. PICS also distributes products through three reseller categories: (1) Insurance companies, (2) Health Maintenance Organizations and (3) Diet Industry companies.

Global Reach. Health is a universal concern, consequently PICS markets its products Internationally. LifeSign has enjoyed great success in Canada, Latin America, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and many European countries. LifeSign support material has been translated in all major languages including French, Spanish, German, Hebrew, Russian, Japanese and Swedish.

Proprietary Position. To date, after 15 years in the market, no one has attempted to copy our product line because of its strong intellectual property protection. PICS products are protected by strong patents and trademarks. Another barrier to entry for potential competitors is the time and money required to establish product efficacy claims that are validated by scientific studies. In addition, PICS has accumulated a large marketing asset in the form of the LifeSign and DietMate brand names, a million customer database, a large inventory of testimonials, over 1500 major corporate customers and an international distribution network.