WorldOne, which develops healthcare data and research tools, announced Thursday its acquisition of Cambridge, Mass.-based Sermo, which bills itself as the largest online community of U.S. physicians.

Sermo's membership has grown to 130,000 physicians and hundreds of clients in the past six years, including eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world, officials say.

[See also: Sermo launches mobile app for immediate access to physician network.]

This past year WorldOne launched a new division, WorldOne Interactive, which is focused on leveraging emerging technologies and social media applications to connect healthcare professionals worldwide. The acquisition of Sermo, with its discussion and crowd-sourcing platform for physicians, will expand WorldOne's interactive and digital engagement capabilities, officials say.

"Sermo fits in perfectly with our strategy to extend our digital footprint across healthcare market research and enhance our growing portfolio of innovative engagement solutions," said WorldOne CEO Peter Kirk. "Combining Sermo's technology and social media expertise with WorldOne's global scale enables us to rapidly accelerate our growth while offering the most enriching, collaborative online environment for physicians anywhere in the world."

[See also: Sermo, AMA spar over physician frustrations.]

WorldOne's global network includes 1.7 million healthcare professionals, including more than 1 million physicians in 80 countries. The addition of Sermo's membership should further increase this reach, expanding research opportunities and increasing physician discussion and collaboration, say officials.

"As Sermo grew the most vibrant online physician community in the U.S. and, more recently, provided clients more robust research and promotion opportunities, clients asked for global reach and more key specialists," said Sermo CEO Tim Davenport. "WorldOne adds both of these overnight, while Sermo greatly augments WorldOne's online and interactive business."