41 - HEALTHCARE COMMS

Origins Insights (Origins), a Resonant Group company, has announced significant changes to its service offering as part of plans to evolve into an exclusively patient-focused organisation.

Origins’ transformed service offering is rooted in a four-step process operating through strategy development, insight generation, patient experience data collation and solutions created to optimise and amplify the patient voice in the research and development of new and existing healthcare interventions.

Leading the new offering from Origins is chief innovation officer, Mark Corbett, Resonant Group.

Commenting on the newly announced changes at the agency, Corbett said: “Historically, the significant potential contribution of patients to the preclinical and clinical investigation of new therapies has been under-recognised.

“Our evolved suite of services builds on our ability to access deep patient insights at all stages of the drug life cycle, from clinical development to market access and commercialisation.”

The agency has recognised that the meaningful and strategic engagement and incorporation of the patient voice through views, experiences and opinions as part of the product life cycle journey are key to companies strengthening the value of products, as well as meeting specific requirements set by regulators.

“By blending strategy, patient insights and a holistic understanding of the regulatory challenges surrounding patient and patient group engagement, we are able to develop innovative solutions to support our clients in the development of their products, which offer genuine benefits to patients,” reflected Corbett.

“Patient focus should not be one of a number of multiple competing priorities for the pharma and biotech industry, it should be the priority for measuring success.”
Patient experience data, which complements clinical data, is a crucial part of patient-focused drug development, filing submissions, pricing agreements and healthcare technology assessments globally.

“Over the last decade, the importance of both understanding and acting on lived patient experiences has dramatically increased,” said David Youds, founder and chief executive officer, Resonant Group.founder and chief executive officer, Resonant Group.

Havas Group has announced its acquisition of Bastion Brands, an independent health communications agency based in Australia.

Havas Health & You (HH&Y), a global health network, will welcome the integration of Bastion Brands under the management of its global chief executive officer (CEO), Donna Murphy, in tandem with the significant changes in the Asia Pacific region, as overseen by HH&Y’s CEO of APAC and Latin America, Charles Houdoux.

Founded in 2012 by its CEO Simon Davies (pictured), Bastion Brands has worked as a strategic partner of HH&Y since 2019, offering extensive client services across the business, while collaborating with partners from Havas Village Australia. The consumer health marketing specialist has offices in both Melbourne and Sydney and has been making an impression on business in South-east Asia, with an approach that fosters a combination of ‘science and emotion’ as part of its targeted healthcare solutions.

Given that the APAC region is home to more than 50% of the world’s population, and the health market size is expected to reach more than $300bn by 2030, the importance of cementing the presence of health brands and investment in the region cannot be understated.

Yannick Bolloré (pictured), chairman and CEO of Havas Group, said: “Adding Bastion Brands capabilities to our global HH&Y network will provide specialised health communications for both that region and our clients globally. Bastion Brands also complements fast growth within our health PR business Red Havas in Australia, and we’re thrilled to officially welcome the Bastion Brands team to our Group.”

HH&Y’s acquisition of Bastion Brands further reinforces its presence across ten countries in APAC, including Greater China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The network has made significant investments in its Villages and senior leadership to foster growth throughout the region, in response to considerable regional growth as a result of increased health awareness.

As part of Havas Group, Bastion Brands will add branding representative of HH&Y and work in close partnership across the network as it integrates its business into projects regionally.

“We are delighted to be joining the Havas family. The strength and momentum within Havas Health & You will help us accelerate our strong growth in Australia,” said Simon Davies.

“Now with access to and support from the Havas network, we will be able to offer deeper and broader services to clients, globally developed insights and specialised health products, and even more exciting learning and growth opportunities for our staff,” he added.

Origins Insights announces evolving changes

Havas Group acquires Bastion Brands