Ashfield and Huntsworth continue their transformation since both organizations were acquired by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) over the past couple of years. Now, the two companies will unite their full suite of advisory, medical, marketing, communications, and patient and stakeholder engagement services to create a new organization called Inizio.

Inizio will serve as a strategic partner to health and life sciences companies throughout the lifecycle of their drug products. The company will have operations in 35 countries with a team of 10,000+ employees, including strategic, scientific, medical, and creative experts across all therapeutic areas.

“We are excited to unveil Inizio to the market as we believe it’s time to reimagine health,” Chief Executive Officer Paul Taaffe said in a statement. “From the moment we set out to bring Ashfield and Huntsworth together we knew we were combining a unique set of best-in-class capabilities. The creation of Inizio is a direct response to the increasingly complex landscape our clients navigate in terms of clinical development, product launch, and commercialization. Through Inizio they can access the specialist expertise and a partner that will help them to optimize the commercialization of their products.”

Inizio launches with five specialist business units:

1. Inizio Advisory: This unit helps pharma, biotech, and life sciences companies to develop, execute, and operationalize their strategies across portfolio licensing and development, new product launches, established product and franchise strategy, HEOR, pricing, and market access. It includes companies Vynamic, Research Partnership, Putnam Associates, and STEM Healthcare.

2. Inizio Medical: By combining complex scientific understanding with creativity, Inizio Medical promises to create compelling content and engage communities across the spectrum of healthcare. The unit will specialize in medical communications, medical affairs, real-world evidence, and outcomes research. It includes agency groups ApotheCom, Ashfield MedComms, and Nucleus Group as well as specialized medical services companies MediStrava and MedEvoke.

3. Inizio MarComms: Inizio MarComms is represented by Evoke, a global brand, experience, and communications platform, purpose-built to make “health more human.” Earlier this month, Evoke integrated several Ashfield Health marketing and communications agencies under its umbrella to form one brand, which includes:

  • Evoke Canale (a PR, integrated communications and investor relations agency)
  • Evoke Create (a creative delivery agency providing performance-based execution of strategic plans for health and life sciences brands)
  • Evoke Galliard (a communications agency specializing in scientific storytelling)
  • Evoke Incisive Health (healthcare policy and communications consultancy focused on UK and European markets)
  • Evoke MicroMass (a creative agency with a deep understanding of behavioral science and patient engagement)
  • Evoke Mind+Matter (a global data-driven marketing agency creating engaging experiences for health and life sciences brands)
  • Evoke Kyne (global PR and communications agency working with biopharma, foundations and non-profits, and government organizations)
  • Evoke Navience (a market access agency helping clients accelerate brand growth from strategy through execution)
  • Evoke New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and London (a global health and wellness marketing and brand communications agency).

Additionally, Evoke recently acquired Meltmedia and formed Evoke Melt, which specializes in providing data-driven strategy, experience, and development services to leading pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare organizations.

4. Inizio Engage: This unit includes experts in strategic engagement and commercialization that will partner with clients to create personalized experiences and deliver improved treatment outcomes. Inizio Engage creates solutions across live, hybrid, and digital channels for HCPs, payers, and patients, including employee engagement consulting, training and development, events, treatment journey blueprinting, advanced analytics, patient education, scientific engagement, medical information, and promotions. It includes companies The Creative Engagement Group, Nuvera Life Science, Propensity4, and Ashfield Excellence Academy.

5. Inizio Biotech: With services spanning the clinical development and commercialization journey, this unit provides personalized and scalable solutions curated to maximize value creation for biotech customers—all coordinated through a single point of contact.

“As Inizio, we are now able to build deeper and more strategic partnerships, as we can connect the depth of scientific knowledge, breadth of therapeutic experience, and scale that exists within the business,” Ryan Quigley, Chief Operating Officer of Inizio, said in a statement. “Whether we are enabling our clients to maximize value at a specific milestone, or acting as a guide throughout their journey, we seek to elevate their expectations of partnership and improve patient outcomes.”

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