Philly pharma systems firm buys up rivals; Petplan’s coronavirus plan for cats, dogs, owners

IntegriChain, the Philadelphia drug-distribution and payment systems maker, has agreed to buy the Life Sciences unit of Franklin, Tenn.-based Cumberland Life Sciences, for an undisclosed price.

It’s the fourth acquisition that IntegriChain has made since it was bought by the private-equity partnership Accel-KKR four years ago with the intention of making IntegriChain a dominant player in the fast-growing pharmaceuticals automation business, so it can be sold later at a comfortable profit.

The combined company, which will employ more than 370 and boast yearly sales of $75 million, will be based in Center City.

The deal was reached while team members were “working remotely without interruption,” IntegriChain said in a statement.

IntegriChain automates drug distribution, patient and insurance connections for more than 150 drugmakers, including the 20 largest.

The company says it has helped arrange distribution and payments for 73 of the roughly 100 new drugs launched in the U.S. in the last two years, half of them by small firms and start-ups, including complex arrangements to pay for new cancer therapies. Cumberland Life Sciences offers similar services.

The merged company will be “the industry’s first and only data and managed services platform” that combines contracts, pricing, profit margin calculation, distribution and patient services, said Kevin Leininger, a trumpet-playing physicist and serial tech entrepreneur who has run IntegriChain since its 2005 founding.

The companies offer “simplified” patient access to start-ups and small firms, and “scaleable” services for larger manufacturers that hope to boost sales quickly, said Jeff Lee, who had been managing partner at Cumberland and is now IntegriChain’s senior vice president for sales.

After selling its Life Sciences unit to IntegriChain, Cumberland will remain an independent provider of consulting, IT and managed services.

Prior IntegriChain acquisitions include daVIZta, Somerset, N.J., 2019; MTC, Atlanta, 2018; PharmaMetrics, Ambler, 2017. Besides Center City, IntegriChain has offices in Ambler; Somerset, N.J.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Pune, India. Cumberland Life Sciences offices in New Jersey and North Carolina will be combined into the nearby IntegriChain offices.

Petplan, the Newtown Square-based pet insurer, says it has added remote coverage services for its 225,000 members to better care for their dogs and cats amid coronavirus shutdowns. The firm is also offering $25 Amazon gift cards to pet owners who follow instructions to create a “Pet Readiness Kit” to help provide for their animals should the owner go into the hospital or quarantine.

The new services include “virtual visits” by video, text or other remote services “with any vet in the U.S. or Canada”; boarding fees of up to $1,000 in case a covered owner is hospitalized with coronavirus for four or more days; and coverage for dogs or cats who may contract the virus.

These policy additions should add “peace of mind during this unprecedented time," said Petplan North America chief executive Paul Guyardo.

Citing Centers for Disease Control reports, Guyardo stressed that there have been no known cases of pets contracting the disease. (The Bronx Zoo says one of its tigers, Nadia, has tested positive.)

Still, CDC “recommended that people sick with COVID-19 limit contact with animals until more information is known,” to protect both pets and people. And, he added, keep washing your hands.