WebMD acquires French medical news and information platform Jim.fr – TechCrunch

Health information publishing big WebMD has introduced that it’s buying Jim.fr, a French-language medical news and information web site geared toward healthcare professionals (HCPs). Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Founded in 1979 because the Journal International de Médecine (JIM) by a younger hospital intern referred to as Dr. Gilles Haroche, Paris-based Jim.fr collates and presents all method of news, studies, and research from the world of drugs, together with new developments and therapies, op-eds, evaluation, and profiles of key individuals from the worldwide well being sphere.

Jim.fr grew to become an online-only publication in 1999, and immediately it reaches some 350,000 subscribers, whereas Dr. Haroche stays the editorial director greater than 40 years afters its inception.

Healthy development

WebMD, for its half, was based within the U.S. in 1996 and has gone on to change into a number one information supplier for well being, drugs, and wellbeing, with some 130 million monthly visits. WebMD itself was acquired by KKR’s Internet Brands for $2.8 billion five years ago, and within the intervening years it has expanded its geographic and linguistic footprint into quite a few markets within the U.S. and past by buying smaller native rivals, together with Benelux’s MediQuality back in 2018; Germany’s Coliquio in 2020; and the U.Okay.’s MGP just last year.

So acquisitions have performed a significant position in WebMD’s world and vertical growth traditionally, and it’s a method the corporate is clearly persevering with with because it expands deeper into the French market the place it already has a presence.

While WebMD will probably be a well-recognized model to only about anybody who has searched on-line for information on diseases and illnesses, the publication targets a broad viewers throughout the patron and skilled spheres. This consists of HCPs, by means of its Medscape property which it acquired for $10 million on the flip of the century, and which already has a French-language version that claims to achieve 5 million physicians globally. Jim.fr primarily bolsters WebMD’s current attain and competencies for that market.

“Both Jim.fr and Medscape have the trust and engagement of hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals in France,” WebMD Global’s group common supervisor Jeremy Schneider famous in a press release. “Through this transaction, we can leverage our combined assets to further strengthen Medscape’s offering for French and French-speaking professionals, while delivering innovative solutions to customers.”

Post-acquisition, Jim.fr will function as a subsidiary of Mescape, with plans to combine providers from throughout their respective platforms.