Omnicom Buys Tokyo Medical Intelligence Specialist

Marketing services group Omnicom has acquired a majority stake in Japanese online research agency Medical Collective Intelligence (MCI), which works with clients in the pharma and medical device industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MCI's dedicated team of sector research specialists provides both qual and quant services covering consulting, planning and all stages of the data collection and analysis process. The agency also manages several research panels of medical professionals, and conducts large-scale studies which are used by pharma clients to measure the effectiveness of their healthcare marketing programs.

Following the acquisition, MCI will continue to operate as a standalone agency led by founder and President Takenobu Senda, and will work closely with its new sister healthcare companies within the Omnicom group in Asia including Targis, AgencyRx Japan and Polaris Consumer Healthcare.

Senda comments: 'All of us at MCI are delighted to join Omnicom's healthcare portfolio. We are looking forward to further extending our services throughout the Asia-Pacific region, helping clients with our online market research and detailing solutions, and penetrating the large and diverse growth markets of China and India, as well as South East Asian countries. Together, we also see opportunities for our solutions in the significant healthcare markets in the US and Europe.'

Web sites: www.omnicomgroup.com and www.medical-ci.co.jp .