Health information provider
Medscape
this week announced Medscape Europe, a wholly-owned
subsidiary to be headed by Edward Briffa,
newly-appointed as chief executive officer and formerly
head of BBC Online.
“Medscape Europe will seek partners interested in
connectivity, e-commerce and business-to-business
applications,” said Briffa.
The launch of Medscape Europe is the first stage of
an aggressive international expansion, prompted
by what the company sees as a rising global demand
for Web-based health information and services.
Paul Sheils, Medscape’s president and chief executive
officer, said that with its brand, traffic, and reach,
Medscape was in strong position in Europe.
“As a region, Europe represents 29 per cent of the
world’s pharmaceutical consumption versus 34 per cent
from the United States,” said Sheils, adding that
European Internet penetration is expected to reach
35 per cent of adults by 2003, up from about 12
per cent today.
Medscape has announced an Advisory Board for
Medscape Europe, including Edward Briffa,
International Vice President David Tyler, and
Directors Esther Dyson, and Peter M. Frishauf.
Among Medscape’s plans for Europe are local-language
sites in targeted markets, although the company
did not reveal which markets it would address first.
Outside Europe, Medscape operates a Japanese-language
site, Medscape Japan.
Other sites run by Medscape include
Medscape Pharmacology
and the highly popular CBSHealthWatch
which was developed jointly with CBS Corp.
Worldwide, Medscape has over 1.7 million registered members,
the majority of whom are physicians or allied healthcare
professionals.