CommonHealth Launches Valos Expanding Managed Markets Services to Clients

PARSIPPANY, NJ--(Marketwire - February 19, 2009) - CommonHealth (www.commonhealth.com), the world's leading healthcare-communications network and a WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY) (www.wpp.com) company, today announced the launch of Valos, the organization's second full-service managed markets communications unit.

Organically grown from sister agency, Solara, a CommonHealth company that provides strategic marketing services to improve patient access to pharmaceutical brands competing in managed markets, Valos was created to provide strategic and tactical solutions to the pharmaceutical industry in the managed markets arena. Derived from the Finnish word meaning "to cast or mold," Valos will help its clients define and promote the value of brands across their life cycle from pre-launch through patent expiration. Valos will also focus on developing wellness, disease management, and quality improvement initiatives that allow pharmaceutical manufacturers to forge partnerships with managed market customers in an effort to improve healthcare outcomes.

Noted Shaun Urban, president of both the Valos and Solara companies, "In the 5 years that Solara has been in existence, its client base and service offerings have grown exponentially. The shift in the healthcare industry toward a customer-centric marketing model means clients must think and behave differently in order to succeed in a rapidly evolving healthcare system. Establishing Valos as the organization's second managed markets division is a natural progression for CommonHealth to help better serve the diverse needs of our clients."

Stacey Singer, managing partner of CommonHealth, responsible for overseeing the organization's medical education and managed care business units, added, "As the industry changes, so do the needs of our clients. Creating Valos has allowed CommonHealth to expand upon the services we are able to offer our managed care clients. The fact that the Valos team has at its fingertips all the resources of the CommonHealth network will serve to enhance their offerings and ultimately, can only help as clients address the ever-changing and critical role of payers," she concluded.

CommonHealth comprises Valos, Solara, Altum, Carbon, CommonHealth London, CommonHealth Paris, Conectics, Earthborn, EvoLogue, Ferguson, HLS, MBS/Vox, ProCom, and Qi. The organization also maintains numerous partnerships both within and outside of the WPP network of companies.

Contact Information: Contact: Beth Paulino or Kerianne Slattery CommonHealth (973) 352-1000