After a first half that saw Publicis Groupe snap up six companies around the world, the advertising giant is continuing its acquisitive streak with its first health-focused buyout of the year.
Publicis Health announced Tuesday its plans to acquire p-value group, a New Jersey-based provider of medical communications services to life sciences clients.
PVG comprises several agencies, including its p-value and Scient comms teams and another eponymous offshoot focused on speakers bureau management services. Underneath the Publicis Health umbrella, PVG will retain its CEO, Linda Corvari, and will share its medical comms expertise with fellow Publicis agencies Langland Medical and Razorfish Health.
In the announcement, Publicis pointed to PVG’s experience working across the entire product development cycle, as well as its “scientific rigor, deep therapeutic expertise, and a team of advanced-degree professionals” as keys to helping Publicis boost its comms offerings for life sci partners and therefore their commercial impact.
Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, but Publicis said it’s aiming to close the deal by the end of August.
“p-value Group has built a reputation for unmatched scientific rigor and client partnership,” Matt McNally, global CEO of Publicis Health, said in this week’s announcement. “By joining forces, we’re amplifying the value we deliver to clients by bringing greater precision, speed, and strategic alignment across medical communications. This is about scaling what works, removing barriers, and delivering smarter solutions that drive measurable impact for our clients.”
McNally is also a fairly new addition to the Publicis Health roster. He came aboard as chief executive at the start of this year, returning to the agency where he’d previously spent more than a decade.
In between his two Publicis stints, McNally served as CEO of Omnicom Health Group. His departure came as the broader Omnicom agency plows ahead in its planned megamerger with Interpublic Group; other execs have taken similar paths from Omnicom to Publicis in recent months.
Publicis hasn’t been the only health-focused agency in an acquisitive mood this summer. Also this month, Deerfield Group snapped up Triple Threat Communications, a New Jersey-based provider of strategy, creative and digital communications services to clients in healthcare and life sciences, while Real Chemistry purchased New York-based Greater Than One for an undisclosed amount.