WebMD Health Corp. will acquire Medsite Inc., which operates interactive medical education, promotion and physician recruitment businesses.

Announced Thursday, WebMD said it is paying $41 million in cash for Medsite.

"This acquisition will enable WebMD to provide its pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers with an expanded set of online solutions to increase sales and marketing efficiencies, and complement their direct physician detailing efforts," said Wayne Gattinella, WebMD CEO, in a statement.

Medsite's physician relationship management platform utilizes a 400,000-physician database across all major specialties. The acquired firm also works with more than 60 large pharmaceutical, medical device and healthcare companies.

In 2005, Medsite had revenues of about $13.4 million with a net loss of $1.9 million. WebMD said it doesn't expect the full benefits of Medsite to begin to kick in until the latter part of 2006. WebMD has a long history of acquiring smaller firms and melding them into its infrastructure.