Snowballing InVentiv Health announced two acquisitions — those of indie healthcare PR shop Chandler Chicco Agency and AWAC, which offers cost containment services to medical payors.
The healthcare marketing and communications company’s acquisition of the PR firm, which boasts gross income of $50 million and a staff of 250 spread throughout offices in New York, LA, Washington, London and Paris, follows its pickup of Chamberlain PR in February. The addition gives the company a broad-based shop with a substantial corporate practice and international reach to compliment Chamberlain’s high-science product PR focus. InVentiv Communications president and CEO R. Blane Walter called Chandler Chicco a good fit in a sector primed for expansion.
“They’re kind of the InChord of the PR space,” he said, referring to InVentiv’s advertising predecessor company. “The PR environment is growing as people look for more creative ways to reach consumers in a cost-efficient manner.”
Chandler Chicco also deepens InVentiv’s relationships with key clients including Allergan, Sanofi-Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Novartis. And the company’s acquisition of AWAC suits its build-out into a full-service firm capable of touching all aspects of the product life-cycle, from development to commercialization. “AWAC is exciting, because we have our clinical communications and commercialization platforms, and this is aimed at driving positive patient outcomes in a cost-effective manner,” said Walter. “Dialogue between companies and payors is increasing, and AWAC allows us to better understand patient outcomes and the concerns of our clients’ clients.”
Since the 2005 merger of sales firm Ventiv and advertising holding company InChord, the fast-growing company, parent of GSW Worldwide and Palio Communications, has also picked up compliance and persistency specialist Adheris, interactive shop Ignite Health and brand identity firm Addison Whitney, among other acquisitions.
