WebMD has launched a local language version of its flagship online doctors' portal in Germany, continuing expansion plans that have already encompassed the debut of Medscape France earlier this year.

The new Medscape Germany is aimed at specialists, GPs and other health professionals in Germany and like its French sister site is customised to its target country's healthcare systems, rather than just featuring translated content from the US.

Speaking to PMLiVE WebMD's CEO Cavan Redmond said the two new European sites will “expand the reach and the depth of what we do in those countries”,.

WebMD says it already has a strong European user-base among healthcare professionals, with over 40 per cent of physicians in the region currently using the US version of its portal, Medscape.com, for professional purposes.

“[They] use our website for everything from continuing medical education through to tapping into editorial that covers almost all of the major healthcare conferences and sessions,” Redmond explained.

Redmond joined the firm in June from Pfizer, where he most recently served as group president of animal health, consumer healthcare and corporate strategy, and sat on the pharma company's leadership team.

• PMLiVE's monthly PME magazine will feature an exclusive interview with WebMD's Cavan Redmond in its forthcoming September issue. Subscribe here to read it first.

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