Marketing and communications network W2O Group has acquired Wilmington, NC-based life sciences PR agency Pure Communications.

Financial terms of the deal were not publicly disclosed.

Jim WeissJim Weiss

Pure, which maintains a second office in Cambridge, MA, was founded in 2004 and staffs 30. The agency was launched by CEO Andrea Johnston, a veteran of Ketchum, Bayer Diagnostics, DuPont Merck and DeVries PR. The agency has developed PR programs for clients such as bluebird bio, Third Rock Ventures and Loxo Oncology, among others.

Pure will now be combined with W2O’s analytics-focused marketing and communications agency Brewlife. The name of the newly merged entity, which effectively becomes part of W20 Group and will have access to the network’s dozen offices in the U.S. and Europe, is forthcoming. Both agencies will work cooperatively but independently for the time being, with the launch of a new brand name and presence slated to rollout in early 2017.

Johnston will lead this new unit in the role of president. Former Brewlife president Carolyn Wang departed the agency for Google health start-up, Verily Life Sciences. Verily is a Pure client.

Pure’s two offices remain intact in light of the merger. San Francisco-based Brewlife, which was founded in 2013, maintains an additional presence in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Diego and Austin.

W2O Group chairman and CEO Jim Weiss said the newly combined entity adds Pure’s investor relations and media training expertise to Brewlife’s research analytics capabilities. W2O, which focuses on tech and global brands and also owns agencies Twist Mktg and WCG, was founded in 2001.

Andrea JohnstonAndrea Johnston

“At the end of the day, what pushes us is what our clients need, and what they’d like is more in the start-up world from one firm, as opposed to getting their services from a number of firms, and this partnership will enable us to offer our clients a synergistic reach and a set of capabilities that nether of us had before,” Weiss told O’Dwyer’s.

“From my perspective, it’s all about the clients and our people, and the opportunity to be part of this great platform,” Johnston told O’Dwyer’s. “Combining with an amazing team at Brewlife allows us to create opportunities for clients as well as our employees, so this is going to be beneficial across the board.”

Pure Communications enlisted Petsky Prunier to serve as M&A advisors in the transaction.