Fishawack Health: 2022
Fishawack Health
No. 3 Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 8GS, United Kingdom
44 1565 756 600 • [email protected] • fishawack.com
The year 2021 was transformative for Fishawack Health (FH), as the company increased its total revenue by more than 60 percent, hired more than 530 team members, acquired four new companies, built out a new core capability, and expanded its presence to 22 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Led by a new leadership team, including CEO Jon Koch and Chief People Officer Liz Landon, company executives say FH has ushered in a new phase of growth, focused on delivering an integrated and innovative end-to-end service offering. To support its accelerated global growth, the organization has built a people-focused environment in which employees feel empowered to think differently, thrive, and produce award-winning work that meets the evolving needs of biopharmaceutical, medical technology, and wellness clients.
Recent Accomplishments
The company reimagined its vision and values, unifying FH’s 1,300 global team members under a common aspiration: “We imagine a healthier world and create the connections to make it happen.” According to the leadership team, this new purposeful vision emphasizes a culture of diversity and collaboration, empowering teams to work cross-functionally to develop effective solutions to healthcare’s most complex challenges across the product, service, and portfolio life cycle.
“The pandemic changed so much in our personal and professional lives,” Koch says. “It radically altered how we connect, internally and externally. We have taken this period as an opportunity to refresh who we are and how we operate, creating a culture that is engaging for everyone, including our clients.”
In a series of strategic acquisitions, FH boosted its standing as one of the fastest-growing commercialization partners in the life science industry, management says. In March, the company welcomed market access consultancy PRMA Consulting, followed by securing analytics and data-driven digital marketing agency closerlook in June. During November, FH cemented its commitment in the immuno-dermatology therapy area by formally welcoming FIDE, a leading network of dermatology experts, to its group. Additionally, in January 2022, FH added U.S.-based health economics outcomes research (HEOR) consultancy Policy Analysis Inc. (PAI).
“These strategic acquisitions enable FH to deliver an end-to-end service offering across a product’s life cycle, driving better health outcomes for patients and greater business results for our clients in the biopharma, med-tech, and wellness spaces,” Koch says.
As FH was busy welcoming new team members to the fold, the company continued to outperform its goals. According to the leadership team, FH’s integrated services are resonating with clients who are benefiting from the strategic continuity its teams provide across the commercialization lifecycle. FH’s roster has expanded to more than 150 clients, including all top 20 pharmaceutical companies and a wide range of biotech, speciality healthcare, and wellness companies.
Company executives detail that in 2021, FH expanded its U.S. AOR and digital AOR portfolio, working on numerous groundbreaking launches and winning innovative, data-driven omnichannel marketing work while deepening its specialization in rare disease, oncology, specialty pharma, and medical device/ wellness. In North America alone, the organization is working on more than 15 innovative rare disease product launches and with more than 10 of the top medical-device and wellness companies.
Structure and Services
FH’s organizational structure is built around four core capabilities: Consulting, Medical, Marketing, and Policy, Access, Value, Evidence (PAVE). The capabilities are aligned under Gail Flockhart, CCO and President, Marketing.
FH executives say they are integrated under a client partnership model that connects clients with the broader capabilities across the group.
While the capabilities are well-equipped in their respective areas, according to the leadership team, they look for opportunities to collaborate cross-functionally and tailor account teams around each client’s unique challenge.
“We have built a culture that connects our four core capabilities with collaboration at its core,” Flockhart says. “Our approach is unique and designed with best-in-class expertise while providing clients with access to our full-service set to respond more fully and with more agility to our clients’ needs.”
This year, FH extended its fourth core capability, VEA, to respond to the complex and evolving global landscape in which payers require more sophisticated evidence to determine the value of a product. The VEA capability has been created through the integration of Skysis and PRMA Consulting (acquired in 2020 and 2021, respectively), and PAI.
Additionally, FH expanded its scope of digital capabilities to include several technology-enabled applications that leverage strategy, data, and AI. FH’s digital products include Backstage – a cloud-based marketing intelligence platform powered by artificial intelligence, which provides a 360-degree view of the customer – and five cloud-based VEA applications, including heRo3 and PRMA Navigator and Tracker, designed to accelerate access to life-changing therapies.
Future Plans
Company executives say FH will continue on its path as a leading commercialization partner, building its suite of best-in-class services to support its clients across their brands and portfolios – from R&D to post-launch – delivering scale and scope in the key markets of North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is enhancing its digital and omnichannel offerings, both through platforms and new strategic services, management says, adding that the acquisition of closerlook in June was an important step in expanding FH’s digital footprint with crucial skills in analytics and data-driven marketing. FH will continue to focus its efforts on developing omnichannel strategies across the entire pre-commercial and commercial lifecycle of therapies and services.
The company will also continue to develop its strategic offerings in Consulting and VEA, including launching technology-enabled HEOR services, led by Gerry Oster, its new global head of health economics. “These services will better equip FH’s clients to make critical decisions early in drug development, mitigating some of the risks of bringing new molecules and indications to market,” the leadership team says.
Philanthropy/Citizenship
In November, FH welcomed Sheena Amin-Liebman as its new Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) director. Working closely with leadership, Amin-Liebman plays a crucial role in driving greater representation across the company and embedding D&I in every aspect of the organization, executives say.
The team launched six Employee Network Groups in 2021, led by members of the executive leadership team, to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace. The groups cover gender equality, diverse ability, race and ethnicity, family, mental health, and LGBTQ+.
Each quarter, FH selects a global healthcare cause and encourages its 22 offices to identify and support charities in their communities. For example, in October, FH launched the “COVID Compassion Campaign,” supporting local nonprofits providing food, housing, healthcare, childcare, and educational services for communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
The company continues to keep abreast of global health emergencies. At the time of writing, its teams are raising funds and collecting essential items for those affected by the crisis in Ukraine, including supporting Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross. Both organizations provide much-needed medical and humanitarian assistance.
“Many of us are profoundly unsettled by the reality of war in Europe,” Koch says. “What we are experiencing demands that we respond with humanity, compassion, and solidarity with those impacted. As an organization, we are committed to imagining a healthier world and creating connections to make it happen. To this end we are engaging with humanitarian organizations providing support where it is most needed.”
