GolinHarris launches dedicated UK healthcare practice

GolinHarris has announced that it will be establishing a new dedicated healthcare practice that will allow it to offer specialist in-house health communications services from its London base.

The team will initially employ five people and will offer a complete range of healthcare services, including medical education, scientific writing and PR for prescription, over-the-counter products or consumer goods with a health focus.

This specialist health practice complements GolinHarris' existing healthcare-focused operations in Chicago, New York and Singapore and follows on from the acquisition of Virgo Health in July 2012.

Virgo Health – which was named healthcare agency of the year awards at the EMEA Sabre Awards earlier this month – has driven the formation of the new team, led by Virgo director Sian Boisseau.

The GolinHarris healthcare practice has already won several new business opportunities, including Omega Pharma's entire product portfolio.

Angie Wiles, GolinHarris' joint global healthcare practice leader, said it is a "very natural but important progression for us to establish a healthcare team within GolinHarris London that can also deliver the uncompromised health communications for which Virgo has become known".