Quintiles / IMS Health merger is complete

Under the “merger of equals” agreement between the two firms announced early this year, the companies are now one: QuintilesIMS. Stock is listed on the NYSE as “Q”. A news release of the announcement notes that clients “seeking to improve real-world patient outcomes and enhanced clinical trial outsourcing through treatment innovations, care provision and access can leverage QuintilesIMS’s broad range of healthcare information, technology and service solutions to drive new insights and approaches.” The company will have approximately 50,000 employees conduct operations in more than 100 countries.

According to press reports (which value the combined entity at anywhere from $19 to $23 billion), Ari Bousbib, former chairman of IMS Health, will retain chairmanship of QuintilesIMS; former Quintiles CEO Tom Pike will be president of R&D Solutions. The company will maintain both its former headquarters in North Carolina and Connecticut.

In recent years, IMS Health had been adding to and revamping its commercialization products and services (notably, by acquiring assets of Cegedim Relationship Management); for its part, Quintiles has been building out more services around clinical development and commercial practices. Both companies had also announced expanded efforts in outcomes research, real world evidence and other means of measuring value in life sciences products.