The agency referenced in a press statement a recent Deloitte report that predicted that the global market for health tech was expected to be worth $43bn (£32bn) by 2018.

Hotwire, which has London headquarters and is the world’s 66th biggest PR firm with 169 staff, according to PRWeek’s latest Global Agency Business Report, said it already had health tech experience working with clients including Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung.

The practice will be staffed by an initial team of 10 existing employees, the agency said. Alongside West, Catherine Desmidt will lead the practice in the UK, and Laura McDonald in San Francisco.

To support the launch, Hotwire is partnering with the global business media brand Hot Topics, to publish the Health Tech 100, a list of the world’s most influential leaders in the health tech category.

West said: “Health, like many traditional industries before it, is being disrupted by the emergence of new technologies. However, despite the hyperbole, the barriers to entry remain high because of complex regulations and, in some cases, fear of change.

“Through our global team of specialists, we plan to help health tech businesses create effective comms campaigns that highlight not just the incredible innovation behind many of the solutions but the true-life changing benefits that these technologies deliver.”

Hotwire has recently hired its first creative director, and last month promoted Matt Cross to the role of UK MD.

Nelson Bostock Unlimited CEO Nick Clark predicted in January that health tech would be one of the key trends in the tech PR sector in 2016.

This story originally appeared in PRweek.