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Real Chemistry acquires Avant Healthcare, a medical communications company that provides solutions spanning engagement across the entire drug commercialization lifecycle, including medical affairs, promotional medical education, scientific strategy and consulting and speaker development and management. Financial terms of the acquisition, which closed on Feb. 1, were not disclosed. Avant’s team will become part of Real Chemistry’s Medical group. Its current leadership team will remain with the firm, with Avant chief customer officer and president Trina Stonner, RN, MSN, co-leading Real Chemistry’s Medical group with Suzanne Jacobs, who leads Real Chemistry’s current medical team and is based in London. “Expanding our capabilities with Avant brings us even greater scientific expertise, strength, and creativity to partner with our clients to fully leverage the next generation of product breakthroughs in the next few years,” said Real Chemistry CEO Shankar Narayanan.
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Berk Communications launches its inaugural Pro Bono program. Berk will invest $100,000 in public relations services for this year's program, which will emphasize public relations services for emerging companies and entrepreneurs, including those from under-represented groups as well as those giving back and positively contributing to the communities they serve. Agency executives will work with the participants to create a tailored public relations program. The five-month program, led by VP of consumer lifestyle & sports Laura Kepus and senior account director of entertainment & social justice Arianne Antonio, will formally kick off in April. "We're looking forward to the even greater impact we can make with companies that deserve it most through this official program," said Berk founder and president Ron Berkowitz.
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| Chris Willard |
Chris Willard Communications, a San Francisco-based strategic communications consulting firm offering hourly consulting, narrative development, launch campaigns, media training and crisis communications services, is being started up by former Warner Bros. Discovery SVP, streaming communications Chris Willard, according to a report in Variety. The new firm will start taking meetings Feb. 12 and anticipates building up to a full client load by late spring. Before his post at Warner Bros. Discovery, Willard was SVP, communications, direct-to-consumer at HBO Max and he served as director of corporate affairs for HBO. The firm’s website says that it will work with “brands who are developing unique and exciting ways to evolve their businesses amidst disruption, and, in this new era of automation, brands who are finding the right balance between human and machine to drive innovation, educate and empower workers, and unlock value across their organizations.”
Precision Strategies, an integrated strategy and marketing agency with offices in Washington and New York, acquires Firehouse Strategies, a DC-based public affairs firm... AVENIR GLOBAL acquires London-based Thinks Insight & Strategy... Good Company, which bills itself as a “cultural engineering firm,” is launched by DJ Hardy, a veteran of Johannesburg-based communications consultancy arxna and M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and Casey Stickles, who has worked at 5WPR, Rubenstein and MWW.
PSC (Princeton Strategic Communications) acquires Nonprofit Partners... CG Life launches 24/364, a cultural brand platform intended to drive awareness, connection and action aimed at keeping rare disease at the forefront of the health and social conversation... Interluxe Group, which focuses on brand experiences and in-person activations; Quinn, a strategic communications agency; and media and digital agency North & Warren are uniting under the Interluxe Group banner.
KITH, which provides corporate reputation and crisis preparation services, is now owned by CEO Stephanie Craig, who has been with the firm since 2021... The Marketing Cloud, a part of Stagwell, introduces several expansions to Agent Cloud, the platform it launched in October 2025 to simplify access to its AI tools and marketing assistants.... Notified launches its AI Press Release Optimizer.
V2 Communications launches its AI Visibility Solution and Earned Media at Scale, two service offerings designed to help companies increase visibility and credibility in generative search... The Public Relations Global Network brings on Greenough Communications as its Boston member agency... DBC is relaunching The DBC Industry Calendar as a free site to help communicators more easily discover relevant events and awards in the cluttered event landscape driven by the growth of webinars and online events. 
PAN releases new original research showing that a significant share of B2B citations surfaced by ChatGPT are inaccurate, misattributed or entirely fabricated, introducing a new credibility risk for brands... REQ, which has offices in DC and San Diego, opens in Phoenix... Notified introduces Market Intelligence, an addition to its all-in-one IR Hub, which gives IR teams a more streamlined way to prepare for earnings calls.
