Eversana combines business assets to form a full-services marketing agency

Pity the traditional healthcare ad agency, beset on one side by digital solutions providers like Deloitte or Accenture, and on the other side by commercial services providers adding an agency function. The latter category now has a new entrant, Eversana Engage, wherein Eversana has combined a variety of recent acquisitions, and internal growth, to form a “full-solution marketing agency to reach patients, providers and payers across the care continuum.” The business unit will operate alongside a range of commercial services that Eversana offers, from logistics and distribution to patient support.

“It’s no longer just about great creative services,” declares Jim Lang, president of Eversana. “Our clients need a cohesive way to solve pricing challenges, as well as patient support and adherence obstacles. Combining Eversana Engage into a full-service solution means that we look at all stakeholders equally and solve the bigger issues that impact outcomes and create value for all.”

The agency setup within a larger services organization, while unusual, is not the first of its kind; for years, inVentiv Health combined clinical research, commercialization and marketing services and now, absorbed into Syneos Health, is even bigger. More recently, Precision Medicine Group combines commercialization services with a managed-markets marketing agency. IQVIA, another commercial services/clinical research combination, provides some marketing and promotional services as well.

There is a heightened emphasis on market access in today’s healthcare settings, and Eversana Engage seems set up to address that. “By breaking down the silos between patients, providers and market access entities, we help our life science clients design and deliver targeted value for all while ensuring the best experience for patients,” says Seth Gordon, GM.

All that being said, don’t feel too bad about the traditional ad agencies: in 2018, direct-to-consumer advertising hit a new high of $6.5 billion, according to Kantar Health statistics, and 2019 appears to be very strong as well. The DTC spending is only part of the