HealthGate Acquires Random House's The Natural Pharmacist

Posted on February 15, 2002

HealthGate Data Corp., a provider and electronic publisher of healthcare information for health-related organizations, announced the acquisition of The Natural Pharmacist (`TNP'), a Random House property which publishes alternative and natural health content for both consumers and healthcare professionals. The Natural Pharmacist's content will be published electronically under the TNP brand as part of HealthGate's expanded alternative and natural health content offerings. Random House will continue to sell previously published The Natural Pharmacist titles in book form for up to three years.

Random House acquired TNP when it purchased Prima Publishing in March, 2001. Since the purchase, Random House has laid off 60 of Prima's 140 employees, sold Prima Tech (Prima's computer book division) and has now sold TNP.

"This acquisition is consistent with HealthGate's strategy to provide the highest quality content solutions to our customers," said Bill Reece, HealthGate's chief executive officer. "Once in the HealthGate delivery environment, TNP can also be used by healthcare institutions to increase patient safety by providing up-to-date interaction information on herbal supplements and traditional drugs."

The Natural Pharmacist will be integrated into HealthGate's vast healthcare content repository, containing both proprietary and licensed content, and will be made available to HealthGate's growing customer base as part of a customized content package or as a stand-alone resource.