UDG adds Putnam Associates and Incisive to healthcare comms group

UDG Healthcare is to acquire Putnam Associates, a US-based strategic management healthcare consultancy and Incisive Health, a UK-based healthcare policy and comms consultancy.

The twin acquisitions strengthens the breadth of services offered by UDG’s healthcare comms division, Ashfield Healthcare Communications.

Putnam adds to Ashfield’s growing advisory pillar, adding expertise in product commercialisation, pricing, reimbursement and market access strategy.

The US-based firm has 120 employees across offices in Boston and San Francisco, and offers consultancy services across the product life cycle with particular strengths in product commercialisation, pricing and reimbursement and market access strategy.

The last 10 years have seen the agency provide commercialisation advice on a number of products that have since achieved blockbuster status.

It also complements Ashfield’s existing advisory offering, including STEM, Vynamic and SmartAnalyst, which were acquired between 2016 and 2018.

Incisive Health 

Incisive Health adds specialist capability in the growing area of public health advocacy, supporting clients to secure marketing access for their brands, in addition to wider communications services.

Founded in 2013 by Bill Morgan (a former special advisor at the UK Department of Health) and ex-MHP Health Mandate leaders Mike Birtwistle and Sarah Winstone, Incisive Health quickly gained a strong reputation in its field of healthcare policy, public affairs and communication services.

Across its head office in London and an office in Brussels, the consultancy employs 36 people and provides consultancy and comms services including clinical advocacy, corporate and digital comms, direct payer engagement and public affairs, serving predominately pharma and biotech companies.

Richard Lawrence

“We are delighted by the addition of Incisive Health to the UDG Healthcare and Ashfield family as they bring a rare set of best in class insights and capabilities in the policy space,” said Richard Lawrence, executive director, Ashfield Healthcare Communications.

“The acquisition enhances our capabilities to support clients at every stage of the product lifecycle and manage the complex markets they operate in. Incisive Health will specifically complement our existing and award winning offering in PR and healthcare communications provided by Galliard/Nyxeon, who focus on scientific storytelling, and Pegasus who create integrated communications campaigns that change behaviour across different healthcare markets. Put together, this acquisition would see us top the latest PR Week healthcare league table.”