UnitedHealth buys ScriptSwitch for £50m

ScriptSwitch, the provider of drug comparison software, has been acquired by UnitedHealth UK, for a reported sum of £50m.

The company supplies more than six out of 10 of the UK’s primary care trusts, which use its software to provide doctors with information about cheaper generic drug alternatives, as well as data on patient safety and dosage levels.

ScriptSwitch says that annualised savings to the NHS as a result of decisions made by GPs supported by is software are set to exceed £20m.

The Coventry-based firm currently has about £10m of annual revenues and increased staff from 18 to 45 in the past year. ScriptSwitch was founded by two students and a pharmacist at the University of Warwick in 2001.

In April 2009 the business was awarded a Queens Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category. More recently, Mike Washburn, CEO, was announced as the ‘Venture Capital Backed CEO of the Year’.

UnitedHealth UK confirmed the acquisition to E-Health Insider. The company is the UK arm of giant US parent firm, UnitedHealthcare, which describes itself as “a diversified health and well–being company dedicated to making the health care system work better."

In the UK the company focuses on four main areas: improving the commissioning of care; delivering new models of primary care; improving the care of patients with long term conditions; and information tools and services.

In 2008, UnitedHealthcare reported revenues up 8% to £12.9 billion ($21.7 billion).

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