Healthware Group announces the acquisition of pharmaphorum

Deal combines Healthware’s next-gen health consulting and full-service agency capabilities with pharmaphorum’s content-driven stakeholder engagement and publications

International next-gen consultancy, Healthware Group, headquartered in Italy, has announced the immediate acquisition of pharmaphorum, based in the UK.

Healthware, founded in 1997 and led by digital health leader Roberto Ascione, has seen rapid growth due to increasing demand for its services spanning full-service agency, digital transformation, technology / enterprise solutions and corporate venturing. pharmaphorum, founded in 2009 by industry thought leader Paul Tunnah, brings complementary services spanning content-driven stakeholder engagement and its leading international industry publications – pharmaphorum.com and the associated digital magazine Deep Dive.

The acquisition builds on successful prior collaboration between the two organisations in providing best-in-class services to clients in the life sciences sector and a mutual focus on digital transformation within healthcare. In addition, pharmaphorum.com has become one of the world’s leading industry publications, with over 1.5 million unique visitors in 2019, and content spanning all aspects of the industry, including an increasing emphasis on digital health.

Paul Tunnah, who will assume the role of Chief Content Officer and Managing Director UK at Healthware Group, said:

"The strong alignment between our respective expertise, culture and desire to positively impact innovation in the healthcare space made pharmaphorum a perfect fit with Healthware, with the increased scale from this acquisition allowing us to have a greater impact on the market."

Due to both companies being privately owned, the terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The pharmaphorum publications will continue to remain at arm’s length to the consulting activities, with Dominic Tyer assuming the role of Interim Managing Editor in order to ensure independent coverage, but will benefit from alignment with other independent publications and events from the Healthware ecosystem, while Dr. Tunnah will occasionally contribute as a guest editor. The consultancy side of the business will be kept under the leadership of Dr. Tunnah and consolidated with the Group’s other full-service agency capabilities.

Roberto Ascione, Healthware’s CEO, said:

"pharmaphorum has earned an incredibly strong reputation in the market for thought leadership and content expertise, which fits perfectly with Healthware Group’s broader capabilities, so I am excited to have them on board as our growth accelerates."

Healthware Group, which became privately-owned once again after spinning out of a healthcare communications conglomerate in 2015, saw €10 million Euro investment in early 2019 from FII Tech Growth, a leading European VC fund focusing on technology, which has accelerated its growth and enabled key strategic investments and acquisitions within life sciences and digital health.