Spedding and Chopra set out to unearth pharma research ‘gems’

The venture, PharmaGems, is the brainchild of ex-Synovate Healthcare CEO Michael Spedding and former Synovate finance chief Peter Chopra.

Speaking to Research, Chopra said PharmaGems was open to partnering with businesses at all stages of the “entrepreneurial cycle”: launch, expansion or exit stage.

As to the type of business that would qualify as a potential partner, Chopra said: “We think that there are quite a lot of opportunities in the more customised areas of healthcare research.” In particular, he said, PharmaGems would be looking for agencies “less driven by data collection and more driven by a consultancy and value-added proposition”.

Business partner Spedding said: “The healthcare marketing services industry is changing and the time for innovation and entrepreneurialism is now. The ideas, talent and passion are out there – but so too are barriers to success.”

Spedding was most recently CEO of Geographies at Synovate, but led the Healthcare business between 2004 and 2009. Before that he was COO and CFO of NOP World. Chopra, meanwhile, is a chartered accountant and qualified barrister, the owner of transaction services business Great Outcomes and a partner in online community builder Verve.