Burlington, Massachusetts-based IntrinsiQ collects ‘real world’ prescribing and treatment data from oncology clinical using its IntelliDose software platform and provides it to pharmaceutical firms and physicians to ‘improve patient health outcomes.
The software firm will become part of AmerisourceBergen’s ION Solutions unit, whose core business is the provision of clinical, practice management and reimbursement tools to help oncologists make the correct clinical dosing decisions.
According to IntrinsiQ's website the firm works with a range of companies in the pharmaceutical sector, including contract research organisations (CRO) like PRA International and eClinicalWorks, GE Healthcare's ambulatory services unit Centricity and market analyst IMS Health.
AmerisourceBergen said: “The combination of IntrinsiQ's software applications and ION Solutions' existing oncology technology platform will enhance the Company's proprietary data offerings to both physicians and manufacturers.”
The acquisition is the second time AmerisourceBergen has dipped into its $1.2bn (€1.4bn) cash reserve this week and is a continuation of its efforts to diversify its contract services offering.
Diversification
AmerisourceBergen set out its acquisition plans shortly after predicted that sales of key products – namely the cancer drugs oxaliplatin, gemcitabine and docetaxel which are sold by its contract distribution business - would ‘moderate’ in coming quarters.
This fits with analysis by Zacks Investment Research who predicted that although AmerisourceBergen had benefitted from the higher sales of the three products in the first half of the year, the situation would not be the same in the remainder of 2011.
“The company is out of stock of oxaliplatin and the drug will not be available before the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. Additionally, contributions from gemcitabine and docetaxel will also come down as more manufacturers with the generic drug enter the market and reimbursement rates decline.”
AmerisourceBergen did not respond to Outsourcing-pharma.com’s request for additional information.