Open Health merges with med comms services provider Peloton

Health communications and market access agency Open Health is to merge with Peloton Advantage, a privately owned medical communications company.  

The deal sees Amulet Capital Partners, a Connecticut, US-based private equity firm focused on healthcare, acquiring UK-headquartered Open Health and merging it with Peloton Advantage, which is already in its portfolio.

The new combined entity will retain the Open Health brand, and its leaders say the merger will allow it build its presence globally.

Open Health has operations in seven locations across the UK, US and Dubai, but the combined venture plans to further expand its reach to Switzerland and Asia Pacific.

The company says the deal allows it to better serve its US-based clients, along with boosting its science platform, thanks to Peloton’s expertise in rare disease, CNS, oncology and specialist medicines.

All together, the combined offering will provide solutions in: medical communications and publication planning; value informatics and evidence; patient and brand communications and consulting and commercialisation.

Open Health’s supremo David Rowley will remain as CEO of the new entity, and he told PME: “No other agency group has the breadth of services ranging from RWE, informatics market access, med comms, publications, PR, Patient engagement and brand comms.

David Rowley

“We believe that [the new offering] is a truly unique blend that will operate in the areas of greatest importance for our clients in this era of health economic and clinical focus.”

With Peloton in tow, Open Health’s head count grows to over 500, an impressive figure after the company launched with just four staff members eight years ago.

Rowley adds: “Having returned from a two-day summit with the leadership team at Peloton, as well as meeting the entire company, I was impressed with the collaborative, positive and ‘can do’ approach, which I believe mirrors that of Open Health.”

Open Health will undergo some changes, including a shake up to the executive leadership team, which will now include Peloton’s co-founders, Carolyn Clark and Michael McLaughlin.

Clark, who says she has known Rowley for some time, said Peloton is excited to work alongside Open Health to create the medical communication industry’s “most unique and complete platform”.

She adds: “We see strong similarities in our approaches to client service and account management, as well as in recruiting and retaining high quality, highly expert staff, which is ultimately the core differentiator for our clients.

“Our combined synergistic therapeutic and geographic footprint will benefit our customers, our employees, our partners and the communities that we serve.”