OPEN Health has announced that it is bringing together experts in strategic patient innovation and engagement to deepen its “existing commitment to building patient-first solutions”.

The organisation said it will be “combining the strength, expertise and proven track record” of the Px Group with its own patient engagement team to create a “unified global patient communications, patient research and creative patient engagement partner”.

The Px Group is a division of the CM Group, which was acquired by OPEN Health in 2022 and subsequently rebranded as part of OPEN in April this year.

The newly combined team will be led by the CM Group co-founder Cherie Myatt, alongside senior vice president Alexandra Dubois, patient-centricity global lead Gavin Jones and Sumira Riaz, a registered health psychologist and cognitive behavioural therapist who has led OPEN Health’s Patient Engagement practice in Europe for the last six years.

Myatt, whose title is now president of OPEN Health Patient Engagement, said: “I am excited to bring together our global experts to focus on engagement with patients, caregivers, community leaders and advocacy groups.

“Together, we will use the patient voice to improve life-changing treatments across the globe.”

Myatt began to build out a patient engagement team in 2016 based on clients’ needs to connect and activate their patient communities, OPEN Health outlined, adding that she and Dubois launched a division of the agency focused exclusively on providing patient engagement solutions to clients in the life sciences industry, particularly those in rare and complex conditions.

Annemarie Clegg, chief medical officer at OPEN Health, said: “By working as one, united team, we can better leverage our respective talents and methodologies to unlock patient engagement opportunities across the product life cycle and drive more effective engagement solutions.”

OPEN Health’s acquisition of the CM Group was originally announced in July 2022, with the organisation noting that the buyout would broaden the range of services it offers to pharma and biotech companies.

At the time, OPEN Health’s chief executive officer, Rob Barker, said: “The CM Group provides us with a significant scientific communication offering within the US domestic marketplace.”

Annemarie Clegg

Cherie Myatt

WPP has announced the merger of two of its major creative agencies, Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R, to create VML.

The combined company will be the “industry’s largest” creative company, according to WPP, and will employ more than 30,000 people in 64 markets.

The advertising group said VML will provide an “exceptional offer” for healthcare companies and B2B marketers and will be equipped to support clients on creative brand growth strategy and transformation initiatives “powered by best-in-class data operations, technology platforms and partnerships with leading technology companies”.

The company will be led by global chief executive officer Jon Cook and global president Mel Edwards, with the management team “bringing together strong leaders from across both companies”, WPP said.

Cook said: “The future of building strong brands and businesses requires the interconnectivity of brand experience, commerce and customer experiences.

“We recognised the immediate opportunity to create what every consultancy and advertising agency aspires to build with the formation of VML.”

Immediate leadership appointments also include global chief creative officer Debbi Vandeven, global chief client officer Eric Campbell, chief executive officer of Latin American Juan Pablo Jurado, chief executive officer of Europe, Middle East and Africa Ewen Sturgeon, and co-chief executive officers of the Asia Pacific region Audrey Kuah and Yi-Chung Tay.

Edwards said: “This is the right suite of capabilities, offered at just the right moment, at unprecedented scale.  It’s incredibly exciting because with this new agency we have the chance to shape the future of modern marketing in every key market around the world.

“The opportunities it affords our people and the growth we can deliver for our clients at a global scale make this a real game changer for each business and the wider industry.”

Wunderman and VMLY&R were launched in 2018 and have both experienced sustained growth through client development, new business and acquisitions, WPP said.

“Separately, Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R are two of WPP’s strongest and best-performing agencies,” said WPP’s chief executive officer, Mark Read. “Together, they will deliver an even wider, fully integrated suite of capabilities to our clients in every market.”

Jon Cook and Mel Edwards