The Virgo HEALTH name will be retained and its founders and joint chief executives, Angie Wiles and Sarah Matthew, will continue in their current roles, reporting to Fred Cook, CEO at GolinHarris. They will also work closely with Matt Neale and Jon Hughes, co-presidents at GolinHarris International.

As part of the agreement, terms of which were not disclosed, they will build the Virgo brand in North America and beyond.

Fred said: "We have enormous respect and admiration for Virgo HEALTH. Our partnership with them will significantly strengthen our healthcare practice and offering in Europe and around the globe."

Angie and Sarah founded Virgo HEALTH in 2003 after working for various pharmaceutical companies and large, publicly-owned agencies.

The 60-strong London-based agency provides a full range of services in healthcare comms across three core business units: Virgo HEALTH Communications (medical healthcare PR), Virgo HEALTH Education (medical education) and Virgo HEALTH Consumer (consumer health and OTC PR). These are complemented by Virgo VANTAGE, its strategic consultancy offering.

Its client portfolio includes Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Sarah said: "The success enjoyed by Virgo over the last nine years has exceeded all of our expectations but it has long been our aspiration to take Virgo to a whole other level and create a genuine legacy brand. We have found a truly like-minded partner in GolinHarris with complementary expertise, shared values and a strong culture."

Go Digital Health brings together Virgo's healthcare heritage with GolinHarris' digital expertise.

Jon Hughes said: "Go simplifies two complex worlds: digital and health. Our work continues to keep GolinHarris at the forefront of the digital space while Virgo has a fundamental understanding of the health environment that is second to none."