Clarivate, the London-based information services and analytics company, has acquired Patient Connect, a fellow UK-based firm and international provider of patient engagement solutions, in a union that will help life science companies understand patient populations and bring life-saving treatments to market.

The acquisition will unite Clarivate real-world data (RWD) with insights from Patient Connect and its global reach of 834,000 physicians and 600,000 pharmacists, enabling mission-critical information and insights to be delivered to life science organizations, help commercialize life-changing therapies, and support life science companies with improving patient outcomes, according to a prepared statement from Clarivate.  

An analytics company formed in 2016, Clarivate acquired the intellectual property and science business of Thomson Reuters. Clarivate currently provides subscription-based research intelligence in various areas, including life sciences and biotechnology, with research in those spheres spanning drug discovery, clinical development, portfolio strategy, commercial planning, market access, and customer engagement.

Patient Connect, founded in 2004 and now headquartered in Guildford, UK, specializes in healthcare professional (HCP) engagement and patient support, delivering clinical messaging to physicians and pharmacists at the point of patient contact. The physician channel supports HCP decision-making and actions within the workflow of a prescribing cycle, including patient selection and prescription choice.

Mukhtar Ahmed, science group president at Clarivate, said the offerings from both companies will fill a critical need for RWD coverage in Europe, the US, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. “By combining patient journey data, therapeutic area expertise, artificial intelligence and analytics in ways that unlock hidden insights, enable informed decision-making and accelerate innovation, Clarivate empowers life science organizations to make more confident decisions along the entire drug life cycle,” Ahmed remarked.

Zoe Barker, Patient Connect founder and co-CEO, said the acquisition will provide life science firms with insights that can help healthcare evolve and improve through integrated patient journey insights. “The integration of Patient Connect products with Clarivate assets will further facilitate patient engagement, drive behavioral change, and empower healthcare professionals to optimize care,” Barker stated.