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HCB Health announced the hiring of ten new team members under its BioPharma division and an additional four to support the agency across all groups. Of the new hires, three will take on roles in senior management: Gabriel Cangiano, Mark Davis, and Travis Waggoner.

New BioPharma team members:

• Denise Byrne joins as Senior Project Manager in HCB Health’s Chicago location. Denise was previously a Senior Project Manager at Havas Life Metro.
• Leslie Calabrese joins as Assistant Account Executive in Chicago. Leslie was a Social Engagement Associate at Golin prior to this role.
• Gabriel Cangiano serves as VP, Group Account Supervisor in Chicago. Gabriel joins from GC Healthcare Consulting, having been a Consulting Director, and InTouch Solutions, where he was a Group Account Director, HCP and Market Access.
• Brooke Claussen is an Associate Creative Director in Chicago. Brooke was with InTouch Solutions previously as an Associate Creative Director.
• Nick D’Amore serves as Medical Editor in West New York / New Jersey. Nick was with FCB Health as a Senior Medical Editor previously.
• Ethan Stickle joins as Account Supervisor in Chicago. Most recently, he work for The Sandbox Agency as Account Supervisor.
• Pooja Desai holds the role of Senior Account Executive in Chicago. Pooja was a Senior Account Executive with EVERSANA previously.
• Christine Mavridis (Chris Mav) is an Associate Creative Director in the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina office. Most recently, Chris was a Group Copy Supervisor with McCann Health.
• Julyna Moore is a Senior Art Director in Chicago, having previously held the Senior Art Director role at AbelsonTaylor.
• Ruth Nobile joins as an Account Executive in the Austin location. Most recently, Ruth, a postdoctoral marketing fellow, was with Bayer Pharmaceuticals in US Oncology Marketing.

Supporting the entire agency:

• Cody Morris is now an Associate UX (user experience) Designer, working in the Austin location. He was previously a contract / freelance graphic designer.
• Mark Davis holds the role of SVP Multichannel Delivery in New Jersey. Prior to that, he was a healthcare digital marketing consultant, and was with Sudler & Hennessey as a SVP, Digital Strategist.
• Travis Waggoner serves as IT Director in Austin. Travis was previously with TeamLogicIT as a Solutions Engineer / Technical Delivery.
• Kelsi Brown joins as Director of Employee Engagement in Austin. Previously, Kelsi was a Senior HR Manager at T3.

In early June, PhRMA released its first-ever television ad as part of its Let’s Talk About Cost campaign, which has previously released print, digital, and radio ads. The ad aims to “reaffirm our commitment and generate more conversation about solutions to the challenges patients face affording their medicines.”

With heightened discussion in recent times surrounding drug prices – including the US District Court’s ruling on price disclosure in DTC ads and pricing trends data from Rx Savings Solutions – PhRMA’s Let Talk About Cost campaign helps create transparency and encourages open “dialogue on how we can make medicines more affordable for patients,” stated their news release. According to the trade association, the campaign helps “put a spotlight on the role insurers and middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers play in determining what a patient pays out of pocket for their medicine.

“Research shows that on average, 40% of the list price of medicines is given as rebates or discounts to insurance companies, the government, pharmacy benefit managers and other entities in the supply chain. These rebates and discounts exceeded $166 billion in 2018 alone and are growing every year.”

The article’s author, Priscilla VanderVeer, Vice President, Public Affairs with PhRMA, stressed the importance of focusing on “changes, like reforming the rebate system in Medicare Part D, that can lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs, improve access to cutting-edge treatments and cures, and drive competition to help bring down costs.”

Announced on Diabetes Alert Day, March 26th, PatientPoint and the American Medical Association (AMA) are developing content to educate patients and their HCPs about the risks of type 2 diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease. The collaboration will utilize PatientPoint’s in-office technology to encourage patients to have an informed conversation about either condition, with the goal of “reaching and activating patients … to prevent the onset of both diseases,” stated the news release.

Educational materials will include a prediabetes PSA in primary care and cardiologist waiting rooms, as well as interactive banner ads and infographics available in the exam rooms. Content will drive patients to either DoIHavePrediabetes.org (which was launched by the AMA, Ad Council, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Diabetes Association) or online, downloadable resources from the AMA and American Heart Association.

Click here to read the full details about this joint educational effort.

HCB Health has created three internal business units to “best serve an increasingly diverse set of clients and to help manage the firm’s rapid growth,” according to a recently news release. The three units – MedTech, BioPharma, and Health & Wellness – will manage their own P&Ls as well as each having its own dedicated team. All “will report to HCB Partner, Nancy Beesley, who recently became the firm’s president.”

HCB MedTech was “created and staffed with a curated group of deep device expertise and technology talent.” The team will be led by Associate Partner, Managing Director Amy Dowell and Creative Director, James Hamilton. Both are veterans in the MedTech space.

Servicing small to mid-size biopharma companies, HCB BioPharma will “serve the agency’s increasing foothold in the pharma space.” Francesco Lucarelli will lead the charge, serving as EVP, Managing Director. This unit will have offices in Austin and Chicago. He will be joined by Amy Hansen, Executive Creative Director to help “guide and grow” this unit.

HCB Health & Wellness will “focus on prevention and treatment”, serving clients in “large physician networks, hospital systems, health plans, behavioral health, and post-acute care centers.”  Associate Partner and Managing Director, Kim Carpenter, and Creative Director, Michele Evans, will helm this team.

Dan Chichester has re-joined Ogilvy Health, after a five-year hiatus, as Chief Experience Officer (CXO). In this newly-created role, he will be “responsible for driving forward Ogilvy Health’s innovation, digital strategy, and brand engagement,” the news release stated.

Andrew Schirmer, CEO of Ogilvy Health was quoted in the release, stating, “Today, everything in the marketing, communications, and transformation business operates through a digitally enabled ecosystem. What we are building for our clients are brand experiences that reach healthcare providers, payers, caregivers, and patients through a myriad of channels, touchpoints, and platforms. … Dan is exactly who should be leading this charge. I’m really looking forward to working with him and the rest of the leadership team as we continue our push to ensure we are innovating and optimizing on every front,” he said. Chichester will report to Schirmer.

Chichester most recently served as Chief Digital Officer with TBWA\WorldHealth. Prior to that, he was Ogilvy Health’s Chief Digital Office for five years and a part of their Interactive Group as a Creative Director for nine years beforehand.

Stacey Singer, an agency growth specialist of 30 years, recently announced the launch of her own independent agency consultancy. Having left her post with WPP, where she most recently built and managed their global Client Satisfaction Center of Excellence, Singer told DTC Perspectives that she identified a growing need to help better serve agency accounts and thus led to her new venture. Her eponymous consultancy will help agency clients develop the skills and behaviors required to retain and grow their businesses, as well as provide advisement on areas of vulnerability and how integrating proven techniques will lead to immediate improvements and long-term gains.

According to the press release, Singer said, “Agencies dedicate tremendous resources to winning new business. They have pitch teams, consultants, dashboards and best practices, but few agencies commit the same resources or rigor to retain and grow that business. This practice is particularly unfortunate, as nothing hurts an agency’s morale and bottom line more than the constant cycle of pitching, winning, losing and re-pitching business.”