Digital Pharma: Doctors.net.uk’s Nordic expansion
pharmafile | May 21, 2010 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | community, digital pharma, doctors.net, meduniverse
UK online doctors network Doctors.net.uk has taken a stake in its Swedish counterpart MedUniverse as part of international expansion plans.
The move, reportedly the first of several European deals Doctors.net.uk hopes to seal this year, will also see the Oxford-based network’s medical director Dr Tim Ringrose take a seat on MedUniverse’s board.
Richard Adams, chief executive of Doctors.net.uk, said: “This investment in MedUniverse gives us an important foothold in the Nordic market and it is an important step in our strategy to expand internationally.
“The experience built in the UK over the last 12 years also means that we can contribute greatly to the development of MedUniverse.”
MedUniverse was only set up in 2008, but already lays claim to be Sweden’s leading network of medical professionals.
Its platform enables doctors across the Nordic region to access and share professional information.
Much like Doctors.net.uk its activities are financed through commercial collaborations, such as sponsorship, market research and e-mail services, with all sponsored content clearly marked.
Anna Omstedt Lindgren, managing director and co-founder of MedUniverse, is an internet entrepreneur and former owner of Tasteline, Sweden’s largest website for recipes, which was sold to the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in 2005.
She said: “MedUniverse is at a relatively early stage in its development so this backing from Doctors.net.uk is of enormous value. With this support we will be able to build more quickly the leading professional network for doctors in the Nordic region.”
Doctors.net.uk provides education, forums for discussion and extensive editorial content, including conference highlights to support doctors in making the best decisions for the care of their patients.
As part of their agreement MedUniverse will have access to this editorial content, including several hundred educational modules, texts, and information in various therapeutic areas.
Doctors.net.uk says it saw record levels of doctor engagement last year, with 25 million unique web sessions in 2009.
Surges in activity were reported across the network’s clinical discussion fora and news pages during the outbreak of swine flu in April 2009, and when bad weather left doctors and patients snow-bound in February 2009.
The company says the statistics demonstrate the reliance that doctors have on online resources that can be accessed remotely, especially during times of disruption.
Established in 1998, Doctors.net.uk’s membership comprising more than 174,000 licensed UK doctors in primary and secondary care, with weekly users numbering more than 50,000.
Dominic Tyer is web editor for Pharmafocus and InPharm.com and the author of the Digital Pharma blog He can be contacted via email, Twitter or LinkedIn.
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