IMS History
1954-1957
Back in 1954, Bill Frohlich, an advertising executive, and David Dubow, a visionary, set out to create a new kind of information company that could enable organizations to make informed, strategic decisions about the marketplace. They called their venture Intercontinental Marketing Services (IMS), and they introduced it at an opportune time, when pharmaceutical executives had little data to consult when in the throes of strategic or tactical planning.
By 1957, IMS had published its first European syndicated research study, an audit of pharmaceutical sales within the West German market. Its utility and popularity prompted IMS to expand into new geographies — Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan among them. Subsequent acquisitions in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand strengthened the IMS position, and by 1969, IMS, with an annual revenue of $5 million, had established the gold standard in pharmaceutical market research in Europe and Asia.
1969-1980
With the North America market beckoning, IMS purchased the Chicago pharmaceutical sales audits firm of Davee, Koehnlein and Keating (DKK) in 1969. Just one year later, with the acquisition of a regional sales audit company, IMS put down roots in Latin America.
Having proven itself to its clients and established a truly global presence, IMS went public in 1972, and within short order strengthened its foothold in the US by acquiring Lea, Associates, Inc., the publishers of the first National Disease and Therapeutic Index, a service IMS continues to provide today. Diversification ensued, with the establishment of Medical Communications and Life Sciences.
The following year, IMS continued its rapid expansion with the purchase of Armbruster, Moore and MacKerell, the originator of the Hospital Supply Index and Laboratory Diagnostic Audits; Pharmatech (which had developed the forerunner to our online delivery systems); and Cambridge Computer, the creator of Drug Distribution Data (DDD). DDD sales territory reports quickly became one of our most significant product lines. An equally powerful service was introduced in 1979, when IMS unveiled MIDAS, a worldwide data analysis service that enabled companies to access IMS multi-country databases directly from terminals installed in their own offices. In 1980, the company established a Consumer Market Research Division to provide market research services to the fashion, apparel, and household appliance industries as well as a Pharmacy Services Division that developed computer services for pharmacists.
1981-present
By 1981, IMS was a thriving worldwide company with offices in 57 countries and annual revenues of $170 million. It was also a company at a crossroads — a company that soon elected to reestablish itself as a company solely focused on healthcare by shedding its consumer research interests. Tremendous healthcare-oriented growth through acquisition marked the mid-1980s, as IMS acquired Pipeline, Fisher Stevens and Luning Prak Associates, Clark-O’Neill, and Healthcare Information Programs.
Robust and attractive, IMS then became an acquisition target itself, as The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation acquired it for nearly $1.8 billion. As the “jewel in the crown,” IMS was the recipient of heavy investment by D&B and much internal focus as the corporation sought to leverage competencies between IMS and its sister division, A.C. Nielsen. Soon, however, D&B was opting to unbundle its businesses, a strategy that ultimately resulted both in the spinning off of IMS as a separate NYSE-listed company and in the emergence of IMS as the pure-play healthcare information provider it has become.
Bolstered by substantial market differentiators and a strong corporate vision, IMS today is recognized as the leader in its field — the world’s leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.---Source: imshealth.com
