Cequent Pharmaceuticals Goes Live With Coupa e-Procurement

FOSTER CITY, CA--(Marketwire - August 21, 2007) - Coupa, a leading provider of e-procurement software for small and mid-size companies, today announced that Cequent Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer in the development of novel products to deliver RNAi-based treatments to prevent and treat human disease, has deployed Coupa e-Procurement. Chosen for its ease-of-use and best-in-class features designed specifically for small and mid-size companies, Coupa e-Procurement is now enabling Cequent to exercise greater control of the company's purchasing practices and streamline its procurement processes.

Cequent, an early-stage biopharmaceutical company, is pioneering novel therapeutics that "silence" certain genes to prevent and treat a wide range of human diseases -- from inflammatory disorders to cancer -- based on its advanced proprietary technology, TransKingdom RNA interference (tkRNAi™).

Like most biopharmaceutical companies, Cequent purchases a large number of different consumables and reagents each month. Cequent had managed its orders with more than 50 suppliers through a paper-based, time-intensive process that made it challenging to track purchases and control employee spending.

"We needed an e-procurement solution that would streamline our purchasing process and allow employees to easily purchase items from our preferred suppliers without any training," said Susie Truong, director of finance and administration, Cequent Pharmaceuticals. "We can now track which items employees order, what price they pay, and when they receive each order. This is really critical in a high-volume buying environment. With Coupa software, we don't have the kind of Wild West purchasing environment that is so common at start-up companies."

"We were also impressed by Coupa's simple, user-friendly approach," continued Truong. "So many vendors claim that their solutions are geared toward smaller companies, but in reality their software is just too complicated and expensive. After evaluating a number of solutions, we decided that Coupa e-Procurement was the clear choice for an organization of our size that is rapidly growing."

Coupa's e-procurement software is well-suited for companies of all sizes, from SMBs to larger enterprises. The solution automates the complete purchasing lifecycle, from employee requisitions for goods or services, approval workflow, and catalog and contract pricing, through purchase order automation, receipt, and delivery.

"Many small and mid-size companies have been denied the benefits of e-procurement because of the high cost and complexity of existing market solutions," said Dave Stephens, CEO and founder, Coupa. "By offering easy-to-use, quick-to-deploy solutions for a fraction of the cost of traditional e-procurement software, we're fundamentally changing the industry landscape and enabling forward-thinking companies like Cequent to realize savings that directly impact the bottom line."

About Cequent Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

An early-stage biopharmaceutical company, Cequent is pioneering the development of novel therapeutics to prevent and treat a wide range of human diseases -- from inflammatory diseases to cancer -- based on the company's proprietary technology, TransKingdom RNA interference (tkRNAi™). Cequent's first products, now in pre-clinical development, are drug candidates targeting colon-cancer prevention and inflammatory bowel disease. A privately held company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cequent was established in 2006. For more information, visit www.cequentpharma.com.

About Coupa

Coupa provides solutions that simplify purchasing and fulfill the promise of efficient, cost-effective e-procurement for small and mid-size companies, as well as departments within larger organizations. Built entirely with open source tools and platforms, Coupa solutions combine best-in-class purchasing control and management into products so simple that employees actually prefer using them for their business purchasing needs. Coupa e-Procurement Express is the industry's first freely downloadable solution. Purchasing departments requiring more complex functionality from their purchasing software may choose Coupa e-Procurement Enterprise.

For more information please visit www.coupa.com or call 650.585.6306.

Contact Information: Contact: Jill Hara Kickstart Consulting for Coupa 650.346.5204