The Swiss-owned company is poised to hand out a wide-ranging brief covering all aspects of its work. It has contacted six agencies and plans to begin a pitch process in early October.
Director of communications Jason Browning said he was unable to name the incumbent agency due to possible repercussions with regard to ‘animal extremism’. However, he said the incumbent had been invited to repitch.
Browning, who took over in 2005, added: ‘The brief has expanded considerably and the level of interest is unprecedented. We are launching more medicines on the NHS over the next 12 to 18 months than any other pharmaceutical company.’
Novartis recently mounted a legal challenge against the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s decision to limit the prescribing of Alzheimer’s drugs including its Exelon product.
