Mark Meade explained that BioMedNet began life in July 1994, in the Electronic Press division of Current Science, which at the time had approximately 20 members of staff. BioMedNet was officially launched in April 1996, and became BioMedNet Ltd. in January 1997, with 150 employees. Clearly a huge commercial undertaking, this represents an investment only possible for a major publisher. Membership of BioMedNet is individual. To join, it is necessary to give personal details which are then added to the searchable membership database.
Membership is free, and includes access to searching, browsing, and all conferencing facilities.
There are currently about 53,000 members, and 1,00 members join every week. Deposit accounts will soon be available for institutions. BioMedNet hopes to raise 1 million dollars revenue from each in 1997.