Avalere Health has hired Sarah Hall as president of U.S. marketing, tapping the direct-to-consumer expert to lead its team through a “politically dynamic” period.
Hall spent 13 years at FCB Health New York, culminating in a spell as president of the IPG Health agency. Last month, she left FCB, which replaced her with Linda Bennett, to pursue a then-unnamed new opportunity.
Avalere revealed its appointment of Hall on Thursday, framing the move as a boost to its efforts to help clients stay ahead “in a complex and political environment.”
Hall’s departure from FCB Health New York came just a few days before its parent company, Interpublic Group, closed its megamerger with Omnicom to create the world’s largest advertising agency by revenue. This week, the newly combined company announced that its Omnicom Health arm will be led by Dana Maiman, former CEO of IPG Health and, before that, CEO and president of the FCB Health Network.
Avalere cited Hall’s leadership of some of “the world’s most notable product launches” as evidence of her DTC expertise, noting that her experience is especially important given political changes that are “calling for manufacturers to rapidly pivot their DTC strategies.”
Under Hall, Avalere said its U.S. marketing specialists will “further partner with its policy and market access experts to uncover new paths of DTC commercialization.” The agency is positioning that combination of marketing, policy and market access expertise as an option for biopharma clients that want to build “deep connections with patients in a tumultuous political environment.”
Contributing to the tumult is the directive President Donald Trump gave the FDA in September to curb DTC advertising. Meanwhile, having named Tracy Beth Høeg, M.D., Ph.D., as acting director this week, the regulator's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research is now led by a physician who listed DTC advertising as one of eight things that have gone wrong with the FDA in a 2023 blog post.
As DTC advertising has come under pressure, the White House has encouraged companies to sell drugs directly to patients. Amar Urhekar, who became CEO of Avalere one year ago, recently pitched a vision for uniting distribution and DTC engagement like a consumer brand, “with communications continuing long after an initial purchasing decision is made.”