Virtual health company MediBuddy has acquired the telehealth business of US-based managed healthcare company Aetna in India.

vHealth by Aetna, which is run by Aetna's subsidiary Indian Health Organisation (IHO), offers subscription-based primary healthcare services, including telephone and video consultations and delivery of medicines, blood tests and other home healthcare products across 38 Indian cities. 

According to a press release, MediBuddy will absorb IHO's current management team and employees and by the second half of the year, vHealth by Aetna will be rebranded as MediBuddy vHealth.

WHY IT MATTERS

MediBuddy has been on a merger and acquisition spree since last year. In December, it completed its merger with online doctor consultation platform DocsApp. The company also acquired rural-focused telehealth platform Clinix in July. 

Its latest acquisition, the company said, is in line with its mission "to make healthcare accessible to a billion people." It will also help scale its operations and offerings to vHealth's subscriber base. At present, MediBuddy has a consumer base of over 30 million.

"vHealth by Aetna has shown an impressive rate of growth in the past, and with the expertise of the current team and MediBuddy's existing strengths, we expect the combined business to grow significantly over the coming years," said MediBuddy CEO and co-founder Satish Kannan. 

THE LARGER TREND

Other Indian health tech companies have taken the acquisition route to stay afloat amid a gruelling business environment during the pandemic while also looking to expand their bases. 

HCAH, for example, has expanded to elderly care with its acquisition of digital elderly care platform Seniority. Secondary care platform Pristyn Care bought the mobile health platform Lybrate, making its foray into primary care. Another company, Phablecare, just added diabetes management to its chronic disease management portfolio as it bought the Type 1 Diabetes-focused fitness platform Fused Training.