Turner, who is working for clients such Japanese drugs firm Fujisawa, Lilly UK and AstraZeneca, said he had joined to handle ‘patient advocacy and PR’ at the agency.
Turner has been principal of his own Kent-based healthcare consultancy, Phocus, for the past six years – the consultancy will continue to be run by his wife.
Among other recent roles, Turner has worked for e-prescribing oncology specialist OpTx as head of clinical and scientific services and, from 1997 to 2001, he worked for a patient-advocacy group, the Campaign for Effective and Rational Treatment, lobbying the Government to boost funding for cancer drugs.
From 1993 to 1998 he worked for healthcare consultancy InterScience.
Prior to that he spent five years at Hill & Knowlton, both working for its Eurosciences Communication division and as a director in its UK healthcare group.
At Galliard, Turner reports to managing director Marika Freris, who he himself once recruited during his H&K years.
News of Turner’s appointment to Galliard comes just three weeks after the company hired Charles MacKinnon, the former managing director of Complete Medical Communications, as a director (PRWeek, 12 November).
