ImpactRx Acquired by Private Equity Firm Symphony Group- Analytic Algorithms Used to Predict Behaviors of Drug Prescribing Physicians and Pharma Sales Reps

I have written about patient analytics and now we have it going for pharma sales reps and and prescribing physicians. You can read the full press release below and see additional details at the website. Behavioral analytics are the thing today with everyone on the bandwagon and now this will be able to study the prescribing habits of MDs and check against the effectiveness of marketing reps from Pharma, so you have been warned that it has arrived. In addition from what I read here too is that patient behaviors enter into the picture too.

The sell here is ensure the physicians are being marketed properly and again from what I read here that both pharma reps and doctors data will be evaluated, so soon as an MD who wants to see a pharmaceutical rep and with all this in place the pharma reps may also think this smacks a bit of big brother too, I would if I were a pharma sales rep. In short the analytics offered here will offer insight on how to properly direct the reps and properly address the MDs prescribing habits, looking for areas to improve upon an so forth. I don’t have to mention the thoughts of your average MD reading this thinking oh boy, now I have one more boss to answer too, it is what it is in that respect.

I’m almost surprised that a Private Equity firm jumped in here to buy before an insurance company did, as they base everything on their analytics with claim processing and so on. Now, it says here they analyze before this goes to the HMO, so there can be both for the MD, this set of analytics first and then the ones set out by the HMO too, so make sure your malpractice insurance is paid up if you are an MD as analytics as such can end up in court cases and as we are seeing today interpretations are skewed and flawed in too many instances. Some algorithms may not learn toward torn reform as much as we would like.

From the ImpactRX website:

“ImpactRx is a pioneer in tracking, evaluating, and reporting the effect of pharmaceutical promotional activities on physician prescribing behavior. We provide research solutions to support our clients’ marketing and sales strategies by combining proprietary data capture methodologies, high-level analytics, and full custom research capabilities.”

“We study physician behaviors across a single data set of high-value sample physicians with specialty-specific benchmarks and analogs for the full lifecycle. This allows us to measure promotion and treatment metrics over time, yielding an unbiased assessment of the interdependencies between marketing strategy, sales and promotion activity, and physician prescribing behaviors.”

One final comment of my own and it has to do with all analytics today…it’s the next 12 step program for many…those who are addicted and believe algorithms can solve every healthcare problem we have today!

Data Addiction and Abuse –The Up and Coming Next 12 Step Program Is On the Horizon–Side Effects Include Lack Of Data Quality, Integrity And Spasmodic Algorithms

Press Release:

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ImpactRx, the pioneer in measuring the impact of promotion on physician prescribing behavior, announced today that Symphony Technology Group (STG), has acquired a majority ownership interest in the Company. STG is a leading private equity firm with a strategic focus on data, analytics and technology-enabled services companies. Merck Capital Ventures (MCV), the venture capital arm of Merck and one of ImpactRx's existing investors, will maintain its investment in ImpactRx. Under the terms of the acquisition, ImpactRx will operate as an independent STG portfolio company. Current President and CEO, Richard Altus, will continue to lead ImpactRx. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"Symphony Technology Group's mission is to invest in companies with a compelling set of assets and capabilities, and solid client relationships, and work closely with management to deliver innovative solutions to customers and increase company growth," said J.T. Treadwell, Managing Director with STG. "We have nearly a decade of experience partnering with our companies to leverage data, technology, and analytics to deliver breakthrough insight for customers and to expand operations in a cost-effective, timely and thoughtful fashion." ImpactRx is a strong company, and a terrific starting point for STG to bring its operations-focused approach to investing in the life sciences industry. We are pleased that Merck Capital Ventures shares our vision as a shareholder committed to ImpactRx's future."

"We are delighted to be joining forces with Symphony Technology Group," declared Richard Altus, ImpactRx's President and CEO. "STG has a very strong track record of working with companies to improve execution through leveraging technologies and best-in-class data analytics in other industries. STG will help ImpactRx to improve as a leader in evaluating and interpreting the drivers of physician behavior, as well as help us expand our reach and scope as a partner to our customers," Altus stated.

"Brand teams are facing increasingly complex challenges; understanding what drives brand performance, through all stages of the life cycle, is more critical today than it ever was," continued Altus. "The acquisition and investment by STG will allow us to further develop our unique capabilities to better respond to our clients' emerging information and analytical needs. In addition, integrating our proprietary syndicated data set with external secondary and custom data resources, leveraging STG's vast data modeling and analytics expertise, will enable us to deliver the comprehensive, multi-channel solutions our clients need to grow their businesses in today's complicated and competitive biopharmaceutical marketplace," said Altus.

STG companies are known for providing high value, high-impact solutions that help customers dramatically improve their performance, productivity and profitability through best-in-class processes and management.

About ImpactRx

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Mount Laurel, N.J., ImpactRx's longitudinal panels of high value, iPhone-connected physicians are the exclusive source of continuously-captured promotion and treatment data. Through its proprietary methodology, the Company annually captures one million details and three-million treatment decisions, fueling its unique ImpactData™ industry database. ImpactRx leverages this unprecedented intelligence with custom research and analytics to provide insightful solutions to pharmaceutical marketing and sales decision makers. For more information, visit: www.impactrx.com.

About Symphony Technology Group –

Symphony Technology Group (STG) is a strategic private equity firm with the mission of investing in and building great software and services companies. In addition to capital, STG provides transformation expertise to enable its companies to deliver maximum value to their clients, to drive growth through innovation, to retain and attract the best talent and to achieve best in class business performance. STG's current portfolio consists of ten global companies. For more information, visit: www.symphonytg.com.