Good News for All BC companies.
Biotech p.r. office to open
Rod Nutt, Sun Biotech Reporter Vancouver Sun
B.C.'s burgeoning biotechnology industry has drawn the attention of one of
the world's biggest public relations companies.
Hill & Knowlton has lured away BC Biotechnology Alliance
executive-director Theresa McCurry to open an office in Vancouver to
track the ever-growing number of biotech companies starting up here.
"I had been approached by a number of communications firms, but Hill &
Knowlton was the only one that wanted to develop a fully integrated
communications service," McCurry said.
"It won't be just an investor relations or government relations program."
She said Hill & Knowlton will target companies with drugs in late phase 1
clinical trials and early phase 2 clinical trials.
"They will need product positioning and company positioning in the
marketplace as well as traditional investor and government relations
works," McCurry said.
The Vancouver office will join similar Hill & Knowlton specialist
biotechnology offices in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco,
Chicago, Montreal and Toronto.
McCurry will be Hill & Knowlton life sciences practice vice-president
when she opens the office later this month.
"Initially, there will just be me but we'll be ramping up very quickly. We'll
have a fully operational office within two months."
Hill & Knowlton health sciences senior vice-president Noel Hall, who is
responsible for the company's strategic planning for its global health-care
practice, said Hill & Knowlton had previously specialized in
pharmaceutical companies with a large market capitalization.
"But a lot of smaller companies are now moving from phase 1 clinical trials
to phase 2 and 3 and are trying to commercialize their products and form
relationships with larger companies," he said. "We can help them forge
professional relationships and a develop a commercialization strategy. We
decided to make Vancouver a centre of excellence in our life sciences
practice." |
