Ascend Media is shedding its titles dependent on pharma adrevenue.

The publisher will close Physician’s Money Digest, FamilyPractice Recertification and Internal Medicine World Report, and is consideringselling off the remainder of its Princeton, NJ healthcare division, whichincludes Pharmacy Times, Surgical Rounds, Resident & Staff Physician,Cardiology Review and The American Journal of Managed Care. Most employees onthe three titles closing will be let go, and it is unclear whether WillPassano, who heads the healthcare division, will remain with the company.

The Overland, KS-based firm will also divest its dentalgroup, comprised of Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry,Contemporary Esthetics, Contemporary Oral Hygiene and Contemporary DentalAssisting.

The publisher is holding onto its 14 LA-based AlliedHealthcare titles, which are less exposed to the fallout from decliningspending in the pharmaceutical sector. The division, including niche titleslike Hearing Review, Medical Imaging and Plastic Surgery Products, onlyreceives around 10% of its ad revenue from pharmas, the remainder coming fromdevice manufacturers and services, said Ascend president and CEO CameronBishop. Ascend will also hold on to its event media division in Kansas, which works with healthcare trade associations todevelop print and online products for their events, as well as its NewJersey-based medical education unit and Practice Builders, in Orange County, CA.

The moves, first reported in Folio, reflect the ugliness ofthe market for medical journals, particularly primary care titles hit by adearth of new launches and a longer-term trend away from advertising to primarycare docs by pharmas. “There just isn’t the focus on communicating messages inthe primary care sector,” said Bishop, noting that ad pages for many leadingjournals are off 20% or more. “If the dominant books are off that much, it’s asafe bet that second-tier titles are as well, if not more so.”

Going forward, he said, the company will look online forgrowth. “We’re seeing great traction on e-newsletters and webcasts, along withsome of the traditional things associated with Web sites,” said Bishop.

Founded in 2002, Ascend acquired the titles, together withPractice Builders, through its 2004 purchase of Medical World Communications,which tripled its size and gave it an estimated $150 million in revenues. Evenbefore downsizing its medical and dental divisions, the firm had been slimmingdown, having offloaded its professional services stable of 17 mags onto BNPMedia in August and sold Expo magazine to Red 7 Media in October.