OPEN Health to Merge with Pharmerit International to Form Global Leader in HEOR and Market Access Services

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on November 4, 2019, local time, Amulet Capital (Amulet) announced that its portfolio company OPEN HEALTH would merge with Pharmerit International (Pharmerit), the world’s largest provider of health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) and strategic market access services to the pharmaceutical industry. The merged company will continue to operate under the OPEN HEALTH brand. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Amulet acquired Peloton Advantage, a leading provider of medical publications for the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, in February 2018, and merged its operations with OPEN HEALTH in December 2018.

The integrated group will operate across 15 regions on three continents, with a total workforce of more than 700 employees. Following the completion of the merger, David Rowley and Sandy Royden will continue to lead OPEN HEALTH, working closely with Pharmerit’s Executive Partners and Co-Founders Marc Botteman, Jennifer Stephens, and Ben van Hout.

Pharmerit is a global leader in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) consulting, with 20 years of experience supporting pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device organizations in HEOR and global market access. The company delivers high-quality research through four multidisciplinary centers of excellence, specializing in modeling and meta-analysis, patient-centered outcomes research, real-world evidence, and strategic market access. Pharmerit maintains offices in Berlin, Bethesda, Boston, Mumbai, New York, Rotterdam, and Shanghai.

OPEN HEALTH, established in 2011 and headquartered in Delaware, USA, is a multidisciplinary health communications and market access group dedicated to a broad range of therapeutic areas, with a focus on oncology, rare diseases, and specialty pharmaceuticals.

Sandy Royden, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of OPEN Health, stated, “We are delighted to merge with Pharmerit to jointly create a global leading provider of HEOR, market access, medical affairs, and healthcare communications services for pharmaceutical companies. Both OPEN Health and Pharmerit have experienced rapid growth in recent years. Leveraging the complementary offerings and geographic coverage of both firms, as well as our close collaborations with large pharmaceutical companies and emerging biotechnology clients, the merged entity will be ideally positioned to serve customers in HEOR, market access, and medical affairs activities. This achievement is, of course, underpinned by the strong interpersonal relationships, cultural alignment, and shared values between our two teams.”

Marc Botteman, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Pharmerit, stated, “Over the past 20 years, we have taken pride in developing Pharmerit into a global strategic leader, dedicated to demonstrating and disseminating the value of innovative medical interventions through rigorous evidence. Since joining OPEN Health, we have significantly expanded our client base and provided broader, comprehensive services to clients and their medical affairs teams. We look forward to collaborating with the OPEN Health team and contributing to OPEN Health’s long-term growth.”

Ramsey Frank, Partner and Co-Founder of Amulet, stated, “This transaction aligns with our established objective of growing OPEN HEALTH through thoughtful mergers and acquisitions. OPEN HEALTH and Pharmerit possess highly complementary capabilities, as well as strong geographic, client, and therapeutic area fit. As a value-added partner, we see significant opportunity to leverage these synergies and make future strategic investments to achieve sustainable and profitable growth, while continuing to focus on operational excellence.”

(Compiled by He Li)