Paris, France – Publicis Groupe today announced the acquisition of Pharmagistics, the Somerset, New Jersey-based healthcare and pharmaceutical services company specializing in sales, marketing, Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) compliance, and specialty logistical services for healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
This strategic acquisition boosts the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG) positioning as a leading global network in the healthcare communications and services industry. Pharmagistics is backed by 20 years of close collaboration with physicians and practitioners, and the agency has mastered new technologies specific to the healthcare communications sector. This experience is a precious resource for pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotechnology companies, which ensures they remain compliant, and allows them to better meet the needs and expectations of medical practitioners. Pharmagistics’ digitalized data bases give them a unique and highly competitive edge in the healthcare communications’ market.
Pharmagistics offers four key services: distribution of samples and literature to pharmaceutical sales forces, direct marketing solutions (direct-to-practitioner), PDMA compliant sample accountability services and specialty logistical services. Pharmagistics provides e-information platforms - a unique offer in the healthcare communications industry - through which pharmaceutical companies can track inventories and follow-up in real-time.
Pharmagistics will remain a separate unit with its own identity within PHCG. There are, however, complementary synergies with other major PHCG businesses, especially the non-personal selling communications expertise of Arista Marketing Associates, and the personal selling specialization of Publicis Selling Solutions. Given the great differences in size and needs of pharmaceutical and biotech companies, the integration of Pharmagistics’ services will remain flexible to allow PHCG to provide dedicated and customized solutions to clients.
Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, “In order for us to maintain our leading position in healthcare communications, we need to continuously increase our range of services. The acquisition of Pharmagistics is an important part of our strategy to diversify our expertise, and it gives us an additional way to take advantage of the tremendous growth of this sector. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Pharmagistics has proven its capacity to endure and to adapt in order to best respond to client needs.”
Ed Rady, CEO of PHCG, also welcomed the new addition to the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group family: “Pharmagistics’ broad and deep experience in compliance with PDMA sampling and related disciplines will add a new and unique dimension to our offer. This strategic acquisition will provide our clients with the greatest possible number of sales and marketing touch-points, helping to assure that prescribers as well as patients receive timely and accurate information. Most importantly, this acquisition allows us to better leverage our offer in this competitive environment. With the most complete range of expertise related to bio-pharma sales, together with the other commercialization skills and services of the larger PHCG organization, we now bring additional unique, innovative and complimentary solutions to the marketplace.” Bill Pollock, CEO/President of Pharmagistics stated, “Joining Publicis Groupe is a critical move for us, as we will now enjoy the strategic support of a truly global network. We look forward to integrating our areas of expertise not only with the sales-oriented groups of PHCG, but with all of the PHCG companies specializing in commercialization services.”