Company of the Month August 2021: Uniphar acquires US company BestMLSs Group

Pictured: Ger Rabbette, Chief Executive of Uniphar

Uniphar is the Business & Finance Company of the Month August 2021, in association with KPMG

Uniphar, the healthcare services group, has bought US company, BestMSLs Group, for what is understood to be in the region of €30 million. The acquisition, announced earlier this month, is predicted to deliver a return on capital in line with Uniphar’s target.

BESTMSLs Group is a New York-headquartered company that provides outsourced Medical Affairs services including the provision of contract Medical Science Liaison teams, MSL recruiting, training, education and a range of innovative digital solutions for its pharma partners. BESTMSLs Group also operates The Doctors Channel, a digital platform which delivers expert medical information condensed into short streaming videos.

BestMSLs Group’s founders have 30 years of experience in outsourced medical affairs and their vision is to lead the industry and provide cutting-edge, creative medical education programs and MSL teams that engage, educate, and enhance patient care. The company leverages a suite of digital platforms and tools to deliver innovative solutions for their partners. Medical Affairs is a fast-growing market due to the increasing complexity, specialty, and cost of emerging pharmaceutical products.

Uniphar chief executive Ger Rabbette said of the deal: “BESTMSLs is a strong strategic fit for Uniphar given 1) the increasingly important role MSLs play across both late stage clinical trials through to commercialisation and 2) increasing our presence in the strategically important US market. This acquisition will benefit from the good work Diligent Health Solutions and RRD International are doing. Our growing US based team are excited about the value they can deliver together.”

David Best, MD MBA,  Co-Founder and Managing Director of BESTMSLs Group commented: “BESTMSLs Group coming under the broader Uniphar umbrella enables us to continue to deliver for our existing partners while also exploring new cutting-edge opportunities through close collaboration with great service providers such as Diligent Health Solutions. As we like to say, ‘Stay on the edge, more happens there.'”

Michael Banks, MD,  Co-Founder and Managing Director of BESTMSLs Group said: “This is an exciting milestone for BESTMSLs Group, we are enthused by Uniphar’s shared passion to invest in innovative digital solutions to drive better outcomes for our pharma partners, and most importantly improve the lives of patients. What has always driven us is the saying, ‘If you only give the client what they already want, someone else will give them what they never dreamed possible.’