IMS Health

IMS Health was an American company that provided information, services and technology for the healthcare industry. IMS stood for Intercontinental Medical Statistics. It was the largest vendor of U.S. physician prescribing data. IMS Health was founded in 1954 by Bill Frohlich and David Dubow with Arthur Sackler having a hidden ownership stake. In 2010, IMS Health was taken private by TPG Capital, CPP Investment Board and Leonard Green & Partners. The company went public on April 4, 2014, and began trading on the NYSE under the symbol IMS. IMS Health was headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut. Over 2016 Quintiles and IMS Health merged, and the resulting company was named QuintilesIMS, which was renamed to IQVIA in 2017. IMS Health was best known for its collection of healthcare information spanning sales, de-identified prescription data, medical claims, electronic medical records and social media. IMS Health's products and services were used by companies to develop commercialization plans and portfolio strategies, to select patient and physician populations for specific therapies, and to measure the effectiveness of pharmaceutical marketing and sales resources. The firm uses its own data to produce syndicated reports such as market forecasts and market intelligence. The original name of the company was Intercontinental Marketing Statistics, hence the IMS name. IMS Health's corporate headquarters is located in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. The company's chairman and CEO is Ari Bousbib. In 1998, the parent company, Cognizant Corporation, split into two companies: IMS Health and Nielsen Media Research. After this restructuring, Cognizant Technology Solutions became a public subsidiary of IMS Health In 2002, IMS Health acquired Cambridge Pharma Consultancy, a privately held international firm that provides strategic advice to pharmaceutical management. In 2002, IMS Health acquired the Rosenblatt Klauber Group, a privately held international consultancy that provides forecasting, opportunity assessment & management development services to pharmaceutical companies.