New comms agency enters the health and wellness sectors

UK-based Makara Health Communications has entered the health and wellness sectors, offering an integrated communications programme.

Founded by Louise Sharp and Clare Lucker, the firm's services include: creative and digital, corporate and brand, disease awareness, medical communications, health and medical meetings/events, public relations, patient communications, OTC and pharmacy, consumer communications, diagnostics and devices, cosmeceuticals and private medicine.

Sharp was a founding director and partner of the Zaicom International group of companies, where she spent 14 years building the business. Today the group includes Zaicom Healthcare, Zaicom Research Plus (and Research Plus USA), Zaicom Consulting, Spectrum, Zaicom LLC and Exemplar.

“My passion is in personally delivering client programmes and working with like-minded people to deliver top-class work,” Sharp said.

“In an environment where budgets are reducing, regulations are tightening, and service levels need to be at their best, I believe the smaller director-level agency model provides a smart and cost effective solution – senior people at a reasonable price.”

Lucker's career began in the NHS, before moving into pharmaceutical marketing. She spent a decade client-side before becoming head of PR at Axon Communications. Since then she has been head of PR at MSLGroup, senior director at Cohn & Wolfe and, most recently, a consultant for Zaicom.

“I believe strategic insight is what drives the innovative thinking needed to develop creative programmes if they really are to make an impact and effectively address client needs,” she said.

“Makara Health's director-level structure harnesses all the right ingredients to make this happen and 2013 is going to be the start of exciting times ahead”.