IMS Health (NYSE: RX) and The General Practice Research Database (GPRD) group of the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the UK today announced a strategic alliance to enhance the development of new and innovative medicines and improve public health worldwide.

The collaboration establishes one of the most comprehensive sources of anonymized patient-centered intelligence currently available. It brings together the GPRD group's gold-standard database of UK-based anonymized longitudinal medical records from primary care, and IMS Disease Analyzer?, which incorporates the most comprehensive longitudinal anonymized patient-level data in Europe. Together, these two resources encompass medical treatment information for nearly 20 million de-identified patient lives.

The combined expertise of GPRD and IMS will enable pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as governments, payers, providers and the financial and healthcare supply sectors, to make critical decisions about the impact of medicines in clinical practice across different healthcare systems.

?IMS has been aggressively building on our anonymized patient-level data assets and consulting expertise to support the growing demand for real-world evidence of clinical and economic value in advancing health,? said Gilles Pajot, IMS's chief operating officer. ?Through this alliance, we will offer a new level of insight across diseases, treatment options and health outcomes. And, research and development, health economics, outcomes and commercial departments around the globe will be better equipped to enhance public health as they drive innovation and address unmet patient needs.?

The GPRD comprises comprehensive observational data from real-life clinical practice, and provides analytical insight for a wide range of applications in clinical trials, drug safety, sales and marketing, portfolio management, outcomes research and clinical epidemiology.

?Development of new medicines is a global process that increasingly requires greater access to anonymized patient-level data and to other capabilities that real-world clinical systems can offer today,? said Dr. John Parkinson, head of GPRD. ?Together, GPRD and IMS are unrivalled in providing a detailed understanding of disease areas via the risks, benefits and cost-effectiveness of current treatments.?

About GPRD

The General Practice Research Database (GPRD) is the most validated, computerized database of anonymized longitudinal medical records from primary care. Currently, data is being collected on over 3.4 million active patients (approximately 13 million in total) from approximately 450 primary care practices throughout the UK. It is the largest and most comprehensive source of data of its kind and is used worldwide for research by the pharmaceutical industry, clinical research organizations, regulators, government departments and leading academic institutions. It is a dedicated multi-disciplinary unit overseen by the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in London. For more information, go to http://www.gprd.com.

About IMS

Operating in more than 100 countries, IMS Health is the world's leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. With $2.0 billion in 2006 revenue and more than 50 years of industry experience, IMS offers leading-edge market intelligence products and services that are integral to clients' day-to-day operations, including portfolio optimization capabilities; launch and brand management solutions; sales force effectiveness innovations; managed care and consumer health offerings; and consulting and services solutions that improve ROI and the delivery of quality healthcare worldwide.

As a global leader in protecting individual patient privacy, IMS uses de-identified healthcare data that cannot be used to identify an individual to deliver critical, real-world disease and treatment insights. These insights help medical researchers, government agencies, and healthcare and pharmaceutical companies identify unmet treatment needs and understand the effectiveness and value of pharmaceutical products in improving overall health outcomes. Additional information is available at http://www.imshealth.com.

IMS Communications
Clive Savage, +44.20.3075.5311
csavage@uk.imshealth.com
or
MHRA Communications Press
+44.20.7084.3535 / 3564
press.office@mhra.gsi.gov.uk