Press Release: December 16, 1999

WR Hambrecht + Co Initiates Coverage of Medscape, Inc. (MSCP)

MSCP Should Be a Core eHealth Holding

San Francisco, CA, December 16, 1999—WR Hambrecht + Co, the online investment bank, today announced that it is initiating research coverage of Medscape, Inc. (MSCP). The complete research report, Medscape: Driving the Convergence of Healthcare and the Internet, can be accessed at www.wrhambrecht.com

Medscape, Inc. provides online health and medical information to physicians, healthcare professionals, and consumers through two Web sites: Medscape.com (www.medscape.com) and CBS HealthWatch by Medscape (www.cbs.healthwatch.com). Key partners include CBS Corporation (CBS), American Online (AOL) and National Data Corporation (NDC).

The report emphasizes the importance of the Company’s partnerships. The CBS partnership gives Medscape the necessary strong brand name and online marketing experience to quickly become a player in the online consumer market. In addition, Medscape should be able to leverage CBS’s sales force and deep relationships with advertisers, specifically CBS’s pharmaceutical advertisers.

The NDC partnership expands the Company’s strategy beyond providing content to offering e-services for physicians. It thus builds physician loyalty by entwining Medscape into physicians’ everyday lives. Medscape’s end goal is getting physicians online and "owning" their eyeballs, as physicians’ desktops represent the most valuable real estate in the healthcare industry. This expanded strategy should facilitate Medscape’s achievement of that goal.

"We believe Medscape’s strong brand name in the healthcare community, unrivaled online medical content, and diversified partnerships make Medscape one of the best-positioned companies in the eHealth content sector," said Josh Fisher, eHealth analyst at WR Hambrecht + Co. "We believe MSCP should be a core eHealth holding."