Merger creates new force in healthcare

Gemma O'Reilly 28-Nov-07

Healthcare PR boutique Workhouse and Med Ed specialist Synergy Medical Education are merging to create a 35-strong agency called Synergy Medical Communications.

The new outfit’s four directors will be Workhouse founder and MD Joanna Bright; Workhouse director Martin Lennon; and Synergy partners Gareth Evans and Mark Hadley.

Synergy Medical Communications will be similar in size to established healthcare specialists such as ­Medicom Group, which has 34 employees. It will be larger than other well-known healthcare agencies such as Tonic Life and Galliard Health.

Workhouse and Synergy have been operating for 13 and 17 years respectively. The new agency will merge Workhouse’s existing staff base of 14 and Synergy’s 21 employees. The agency will also be recruiting.

Workhouse and Synergy are moving to new offices in Richmond, Surrey. There will also be a US office.

The agencies have worked together on several projects over the past three years and they will retain their existing clients such as Wyeth.

Bright said the new venture was timely. ‘PR and medical are bec­oming two of the most important components of the ethical pharmaceutical marketing mix,’ he claimed. ‘We have considerable experience and the new agency will stand for the true integration of medical education and PR.’

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