The private equity firm Perseus LLC said it is acquiring e-detailing company Physicians Interactive from Allscripts Healthcare Solutions for an undisclosed sum.
The deal is interesting in part because a private equity firm apparently thinks there’s value in the e-detailing concept, in which pharmaceutical, biotech and device manufacturing companies use electronic technology to market to physicians instead of using traditional sales forces.
But it’s also interesting because of what’s been happening in the beleaguered pharma industry, where the emergence of generic competition and the lack of new blockbuster drugs has hammered industry prospects and forced companies to reevaluate how they do business.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the decisions by industry leaders such as Merck, Pfizer and Schering-Plough to slash sales forces in the face of new market realities.
In this light, it would seem an investment in e-detailing makes a lot of sense. On the downside, e-detailing has been slow to catch on in the U.S. (An unscientific way to determine if a new technology is hot relates to how easy it is to find a consultant willing to talk about it, how many recent papers have been published on it, and how many news stories come up in a Google search. By these measures, the buzz on e-detailing peaked around 2005).
But technology is all about dramatic introductions, unmet expectations, 2.0-like resurgence, further lulls, and finally success (or not) by achieving critical mass. An Allscripts official says that Physicians Interactive was a “pretty consistent performer” but just too small a part of the company’s overall mix of businesses to be worth much time and investment. Now the question is whether Perseus can make the stars align and enjoy e-detailing gains.
“Our goal is to create a company that has the leading suite of alternative channel marketing and sales products and programs to serve pharmaceutical, biotech and device customers, including direct mail, eDetailing, video detailing, eCME, market research, surveys, eSampling, eNewsletters, blogs and social networking,” says Perseus senior managing director Norman Selby.
Vaya con dios, my friend.
Addition: Physicians Interactive has about 60 employees and 75 clients, all of which are biotech and pharma companies, a spokeswoman says.
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