Pfizer hands COX-2 work to WPP firms

Medical Marketing and Media, Jan 2005 by Arnold, Matthew

PFIZER HAS named WPP Group's Ogilvy PR and Shire Health to handle PR for its worldwide COX-2 franchise, including Celebrex, Bextra and Dynastat, an injectable not approved for the U.S. market. Ogilvy PR will handle U.S. communications for the drugs, while London-based Shire Health will handle the global business.

The move dislodges incumbent agency of record MS&L, along with Weber Shandwick, which handled some global business on a project basis. Neither agency participated in the four-way pitch, which included Burson Marsteller, Porter Novelli and Hill & Knowlton. MS&L continues to handle Pfizer's Aricept, for Alzheimer's, and Rebif, for MS. Weber Shandwick, which handled Bextra, declined to pitch due to a conflict.

The move is WPP's second big PR win at Pfizer, which consolidated communications for its cardiovascular business into the U.K.-based holding company in January last year.

Pfizer's consolidation of the accounts predates Merck's withdrawal of Vioxx in September, though the move comes at a critical time, as questions about the safety of COX-2 drugs threaten to cloud the entire category.

"Our overall priority is to find better ways to reach people and persuade them to see their doctor about their pain," said Pfizer U.S. director of public relations Paul Ewing.-Matthew Arnold