InVentiv is merging Irvine, CA-based medical advertising shop Ignite Health with Manhattan-based Y Brand, a healthcare branding and strategy firm.

Y Brand will remain in Manhattan as a division of Ignite Health, and president Vince Parry will become chief branding officer for Ignite Health while continuing to lead Y Brand.

“We recognize the needs of pharmaceutical marketers are changing and, as the trend toward consolidating agency relationships continues, our clients are increasingly looking to a smaller group of agency partners to provide broader services that incorporate stragegy, creative, digital and branding,” said Ignite Health president Matt Brown. “Bringing Ignite and Y Brand together in one organization allows us to meet that need with a deeper, comprehensive offering that connects front-end branding and strategy services and back-end creative and digital capabilities to drive marketing solutions in a truly unique way.”

Y Brand bills itself as a full-service healthcare branding agency specializing in customer insights, strategy development and brand identity design. Said president Parry: “While this new alignment marries the strengths of both companies, it also preserves our existing capabilities, allowing both Ignite and Y Brand to focus on what they do best. The result is a synergistic new organization that unites branding, strategy and digital capabilities without diluting any of them.”

Ignite Health had revenue of $18.5 million in 2009 and grew substantially in 2010, as several clients took the shop from digital agency to agency of record on their accounts and a new New York office picked up steam. Among the shop’s clients are Abbott, Genentech and EMD Serono.