Minds + Assembly has joined forces with BOLDSCIENCE to strengthen its healthcare communications and commercialisation platform serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and digital health clients.

The deal, for which financial details have not been disclosed, will see BOLDSCIENCE continue to operate under its current name and branding as part of Minds + Assembly.

BOLDSCIENCE’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Mark Lydiatt, who has 20 years of experience in building healthcare communications agencies, will serve as chief executive officer of the Minds + Assembly platform.

Launched in 2020, BOLDSCIENCE is focused on delivering services across medical affairs, publications, peer-to-peer programmes, clinical trial support, regulatory advisory committee support and patient advocacy.

Minds + Assembly said the addition will elevate it into “the top 20 healthcare communications companies”, with a combined headcount of approximately 500.

Stephen Minasvand, co-founder at Minds + Assembly, said: “This is an exciting milestone for Minds + Assembly, our clients and our team as we significantly expand our capabilities across complementary disciplines…. Mark and the BOLDSCIENCE team share our values, as well as the desire to think disruptively to support the companies and products that are changing the healthcare landscape.”

Lydiatt said: “We will elevate our strengths and continue to differentiate our platform, achieving a new standard for pharma communications and commercialisation. I am thrilled for the opportunity to serve as chief executive officer as we enter this exciting next chapter.”

The announcement comes less than a month after Minds + Assembly said it had acquired HashtagHealth, which is focused exclusively on social media for healthcare brand. The agency will serve as a fully integrated division of Minds + Assembly and will continue to be led by managing partners and co-founders, Brittany Latson and Kristin Hassan.

Minds + Assembly also recently acquired healthcare digital marketing firm Awaken Interactive, bolstering its analytics and digital capabilities.

Stephen Minasvand

Mark Lydiatt

Stirred has announced that it has been awarded a Platinum Medal from EcoVadis, placing it in the top 1% of companies globally in business sustainability assessments.

More than 130,000 companies worldwide have been rated by the assessment platform, with only 110 from across all UK sectors having achieved the platinum rating.

Stirred, which gained B Corp status in 2023, said it believes it is the first health communications agency in the UK to receive the Platinum Medal.

Commenting on the award, Jo Spadaccino, Stirred’s co-founder, said: “We are incredibly proud to be recognised for our commitment to driving transparency across everything we do, and we look forward to continuing our work in creating a better, more sustainable future.”

The agency added in an announcement that transparency and sustainability are “at the heart of [its] approach towards improving health outcomes for all” and that the EcoVadis award is a “significant milestone in [its] journey to achieving this”.

EcoVadis medals and badges recognise eligible companies that have been able to demonstrate a relatively strong management system that addresses sustainability criteria.

The awards are an acknowledgement of achievement relative to other assessed companies across the EcoVadis database, but are not a certification or an endorsement of a company or its products or services.

The assessment process looks at 21 sustainability criteria across four core themes: environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

The platform’s business sustainability ratings provide an evidence-based analysis on performance and an actionable roadmap for continuous improvement, and are based on international sustainability standards such as the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the International Labour Organization conventions, the Global Reporting Initiative standards, as well as the ISO 26000 standard.