Healthcare research specialist WorldOne has acquired US online physician community Sermo, which boasts 130,000 members, a strong client list and its own discussion and crowdsourcing platform.

Sermo, founded six years ago, says its online physician community spans 68 specialties and is the largest in the US, and that clients include eight of the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies. WorldOne now claims the largest global community of physicians online, with more than one million verified physicians across 80 countries - and its US physician network alone will have include more than 350,000 opted-in and verified doctors.

The buy will boost the capabilities of newly launched division WorldOne Interactive, which focuses on using emerging technologies and social applications to ‘connect and engage’ healthcare professionals globally.

WorldOne CEO Peter Kirk says the addition of Sermo’s technology and social media expertise will ‘rapidly accelerate’ his firm’s growth and enhance and catalyse the collaborative online environment for physician panellists. He adds: ‘Sermo has proven that sustaining an active, engaged community can result in higher interest in and response to market research as well as new promotional opportunities.’ Tim Davenport, CEO of Sermo, says joining WorldOne will give his firm ‘overnight’ two features much demanded by clients - 'global reach and more key specialists’.

WorldOne is headquartered in New York with 16 regional offices across North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific

Web sites: www.worldone.com and www.sermo.com .

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