Havas acquires Symbiotix, U.S.-based specialized medical comms & marketing agency

Paris, November 12th, 2015 – The Havas Group today announced the acquisition of Symbiotix, a specialized medical communications and marketing agency that works to leverage science through distinctive programming aimed at healthcare professionals (HCPs). Symbiotix, which has billings in excess of $25 million, will be integrated into the Havas Health network. Symbiotix was founded in 1998 by its principals, Tim and Jo Ann Rice, PharmD. Its headquarters are in Lexington, Ky., but around 40 percent of its staff is deployed in field offices near clients’ locations in California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and the New York Tristate area.

“The Havas Health network continues to be key to Havas Group’s worldwide success,” said Yannick Bollore, CEO, Havas Group. “Bringing in Symbiotix is a strategic investment in the medical communications space to expand the services we can offer to our health and wellness clients.”

“Havas Health is making this very important strategic acquisition to further help us meet the growing demands of medical education across our U.S. clients – especially in the regions in which Symbiotix has strong field presence,” said Donna Murphy, CEO of Havas Health. “Tim and Jo Ann and the entire Symbiotix team will be welcome additions to the Havas family, and we look forward to working with them to continue to grow our offering in specialized medical communications and marketing.”

Symbiotix founders Tim Rice, CEO and Jo Ann M. Rice, PharmD, COO, added: “We are proud to be joining the Havas Group. This is an enormous opportunity for the talented Symbiotix team and our clients. We are committed to driving the market forward in partnership with the entrepreneurial spirit of the Havas team and expanding our footprint at the intersection of science and strategy. We are especially excited with their commitment for a long-term professional partnership between our organizations, their desire to retain the spirit and energy of Symbiotix and their commitment to give back to the communities that we serve.”

The executive leadership of Symbiotix will remain, with Tim and Jo Ann Rice retaining their respective positions, Sally Jagelman as president and John Ponsoll as executive vice president. The corporate headquarters will continue to operate from Lexington.

About Havas
Havas is one of the world’s largest global communications groups. Founded in 1835 in Paris, the Group now employs 18,000 people in over 100 countries. Havas is committed to being the world’s best company at creating meaningful connections between people and brands through creativity, media and innovation. Havas is also the most integrated Group in its sector, with most of its creative and media teams sharing the same premises, the Havas Villages, designed to increase synergies and creativity for all its clients and agencies.

Havas is organized into two divisions: Havas Creative Group and Havas Media Group. Havas Creative Group incorporates the Havas Worldwide network (havasworldwide.com), 316 offices in 75 countries, the Arnold micro-network (arn.com), 15 agencies in 12 countries, as well as several leading agencies including BETC. Havas Media Group (havasmediagroup.com) operates in over 100 countries, and incorporates four major international networks: Havas Media (havasmedia.com), Arena Media (arena-media.com), Forward Media and Havas Sports & Entertainment (havas-se.com). Further information about Havas is available on the company’s website: havas.com

About Havas Health
Havas Health houses Havas Life (formerly Euro RSCG Life), Health4Brands (H4B) and Havas Lynx, three wholly owned health and wellness communication networks, and defines policies and processes for the global group. With more than 60 offices in 50 countries, the Havas Health network has a uniquely unified model offering strategy, promotion, medical education, market access, PR and digital solutions inside each agency asset. For more information about Havas Health, visit the company’s website at havashealth.com.

SOURCE: Havas