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The top 75 healthcare PR firms ranked by O’Dwyer’s posted a 3.8 percent rise in 2024 fee income to a combined $1.7B, a performance that topped the 1.5 drop in revenues reported by agencies in the overall ranking for 2025.
Real Chemistry retained its No. 1 position in the healthcare category, recording an 11.8 percent income rise to $665M.
No. 2 Inzio Evoke recorded a 2 percent drop in income to $333.5M, while No. 3 Edelman suffered a 3.6 percent dip in fees to $189.8M.
Supreme Group debuted on the healthcare rankings chart at No. 9 with $46.5M in income.
People Power Real Chemistry’s Growth
Real Chemistry credits its robust 2024 performance to making investments in talent, artificial intelligence and integrated healthcare solutions.
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| Shankar Narayanan |
It expanded the leadership team by adding Sherry Pudloski (group president corporate affairs), Michelle Terra (president client experience officer), and Eric Solomon (paid media practice leader) to the firm.
Real Chemistry continued its recruitment spree in 2025. It hired Jeff Lupinacci, a veteran of Omnicom and Interpublic, as chief financial officer, and Julia Gaebler, who held posts at Cytel, Lucy Therapeutics and Biogen, as president for market access.
“Growth isn’t just about scale—it’s also about people,” said CEO Shankar Narayanan. “When our team is empowered, our clients benefit. That’s why we’re committed to building a culture where the best talent does their best work, driving innovation and impact across the industry with creativity, passion and purpose.”
He said Real Chemistry plans to expand its global footprint this year via strategic acquisitions and reinvestment in its capabilities to serve clients that are on the front lines tackling some of today’s toughest healthcare challenges.
In 2024, the firm acquired Avant Healthcare, forming the Real Chemistry medical communications group to connect scientific discovery with patient care.
It opened offices in Manchester and Edinburgh.
Jim Weiss, founder and chairman of Real Chemistry, predicts the next few years will be as transformative as ever. “We have achieved exponential growth while creating life changing impact for patients,” he said.
The firm will “continue to expand globally, strengthen its expertise and deliver new, breakthrough solutions that create even greater impact,” he said.
JPA Adapts to Stay Ahead of Rapid Change
Founder Carrie Jones led her Washington, DC-based JPA Health to a robust 26.7 percent rise in income to $30.8M.
She noted that healthcare communications is moving faster than ever. There are compressed timelines, growing expectations, and the constant pressure to deliver strategic, creative, and scientific excellence at scale.
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| Carrie Jones |
JPA’s clients are launching earlier, facing tighter scrutiny, and needing support that goes beyond what traditional agency models were built to provide. “Over the past year, we saw a choice: either chase the pace of change or redesign how we work to stay ahead of it,” said Jones.
In 2024, the firm made a series of intentional decisions to grow with purpose. It also brought in new capabilities through the acquisitions of BioCentric, True North Solutions, and akt health.
Those teams added scale, but more importantly, they added depth in medical communications, AI and data strategy, and international market expertise, each one addressing gaps that JPA saw forming before they became a challenge.
Jones said that mindset allowed JPA to expand to six offices, and grow its team to more than 150 specialists. The firm's goal is to respond faster, go deeper, and help clients solve more complex problems with clarity and confidence to help people live healthier lives.
JPA expanded into investor relations because funding conversations now start earlier, and its clients needed strategic communications that could align with science, finance, and market expectations all at once, according to Jones.
“It’s also why we launched a health tech & services practice, to help bridge the gap between breakthrough ideas and real-world implementation,” she added.
Jones said her firm has been thinking carefully about what AI means for its work. “For us, the question wasn’t whether technology could replace what we do, but how to use it in a way that strengthens the work, protects our people, and meets new demands without compromising on quality,” she explained.
This year, JPA evolved its in-house content production model to meet the growing demand for fast, high-quality execution.
“From social and digital assets to video and presentation materials, this approach allows us to scale production while keeping strategy and creative thinking at the center,” said Jones. “It’s powered by our internal team, supported by automation where it adds value, and optimized through a global workflow to deliver efficiently without sacrificing what makes the work effective.”
JPA has learned that progress doesn’t wait for things to calm down. “You keep building, even when the path ahead isn’t fully clear,” said Jones. “The pressures we’re facing today aren’t going away, but with the right plan and the right partners, they become something you can work through.”
She said that JPA’s 2025 business model “is built on smarter systems, more flexible ways of working, and a commitment to asking the right questions—about where the industry is going, and how we need to show up in it.”
Supreme Group Makes Splashy Debut
Supreme Group debuted in the No. 9 slot in O’Dwyer’s healthcare PR rankings, and No. 16 in the overall listings.
Launched by Dallas private equity firm, Trinity Hunt Partners, Supreme Group is positioned as a next-generation platform purpose-built for the healthcare and life sciences marketing and communications industry.
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| Tom Donnelly |
Its stated goal is to address the fragmentation, inefficiency, and outdated execution models of traditional agency networks. Supreme Group’s mission is to enter the market to deliver faster, smarter, and more integrated solutions that drive measurable outcomes.
The firm assembled a cast of agencies including Supreme Optimization, Health+Commerce, BioStrata, Clarity Quest, Amendola Communications, Curator24 and Kadiko.
They operate under a unified model across brand + creative, PR + communications, and performance digital, backed by centralized strategy, shared data and embedded AI.
Supreme Group’s AI engine, Supreme Intelligence, is built specifically for the healthcare sector. It powers everything from benchmarking and performance optimization to content development and internal workflows, enabling smarter decisions and faster execution across the platform.
Tom Donnelly, CEO of Supreme Group, called 2024 a standout year for growth.
“We secured major client wins including McKesson, Adaptimmune, Carta, and Life365, and saw strong performance across both new business and client expansion,” he said. “Our PR + communications offering—anchored by Health+Commerce and Amendola Communications—was a particular strength, delivering high-impact work across reputation strategy, executive visibility and product launches.”
The company added Krysta Pellegrino as chief growth officer and Britt Thompson as chief commercial officer, both seasoned leaders with deep healthcare communications experience.
Their job is helping to scale the platform, strengthen client relationships, and unlock new commercial opportunities.
Donnelly said 2025 will be another year of significant momentum. “We’re planning further acquisitions, deeper integration across agencies, and the expansion of Supreme Intelligence capabilities,” he said.
He added that Supreme Group is using teams across the platform to seamlessly collaborate to win, grow and retain business. “And most importantly, we’re helping clients navigate today’s healthcare landscape with clarity, speed, and measurable impact.”
Finn Partners Says Don’t Hold Back
Gil Bashe, global health and purpose chair at Finn Partners, says healthcare firms cannot hold back in this age of uncertainty brought on by the Trump administration
“Clients are watching events closely,” he said “They’re weighing whether to advance, pivot, or pause as federal priorities take shape. But in health, hesitation has real consequences. Delays don’t just affect markets; they cost lives, as seen in Texas with the measles’ resurgence.”
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| Gil Bashe |
Bashe said clients that freeze spending waiting for clearer policy signals from Washington risk being outpaced by more agile, innovation-driven competitors.
Confident organizations find a way to engage. “They demonstrate how innovation, intervention, and information sustain lives while reducing the cost of care, and prove that prevention and access are more cost-effective than crisis response,” said Bashe.
He believes the health ecosystem must make it clear that scientific discovery, digital transformation, and access are investments in the fight against sickness, which remains the highest unacceptable cost.
“It’s also time for the ecosystem to show that earlier intervention, evidence- and value-based care, and equitable delivery safeguard the nation's and world's financial sustainability,” he added. “This isn’t just about launching the next product. It calls for elevating trust, aligning stakeholders, and framing health innovation as essential to economic and social resilience. Communication navigates and drives that process.”
Bashe said healthcare PR firms that are fluent in science, policy and strategic storytelling skills will thrive.
“Clients need partners who can make the complex simple and accessible and who can translate clinical data, policy shifts, and public concerns into resonant messages that connect with key audiences and move people to act,” he said.
Healthcare communicators need to be empathetic and ethically grounded in our current age of misinformation and disinformation. “Clients need agency leaders with rounded perspectives who understand where the conversation is going and how to shape it with credibility,” he said
He said shaping the future in today's uncertain market calls for courage and perspective. “Those who act with insight, conviction, and skill will not simply weather uncertainty; they will shape what comes next. In 2025, engagement is not optional. It’s the performance metric that matters most.”
See complete ranking of the PR firms specializing in healthcare communications.
O'Dwyer's 2026 PR firm rankings
PR firms interested in taking part in O'Dwyer's rankings can view the requirements here: 2026 PR Firm Rankings Instructions
O’Dwyer's has been conducting PR firm rankings for 55 years and its name is well known in the business world.
PR has moved mostly to the agency side where extensive special practice areas have built up over the past 30 years. Only O’Dwyer’s ranks PR firms in 23 PR specialities, which are usually at or near the top in Google searches for those categories.
New to the rankings for 2025 is "Crisis Communications" and "Adult Beverages/Spirits" bringing total number of PR specialties ranked to 23.
O'Dwyer's also ranks PR firms in 16 cities and regions. View top PR firms in New York, Chicago, Wash. DC, Boston and San Francisco.
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