JPA Health has acquired medical communications and learning solutions company BioCentric, Inc.

Terms of the deal weren’t publicly disclosed.

BioCentric specializes in behavioral science, modern learning principles and game mechanics supporting a broad range of drug development and commercialization activities. Headquartered in the greater Philadelphia area, it maintains a second office in Lausanne, Switzerland. The agency was founded in 2001 by President and CEO Sherine Aly, who was trained as a pharmacist.

BioCentric will now serve as JPA Health’s medical communications and learning experiences arm, leveraging its capabilities to enhance engagements, capture meaningful insights and drive positive behavior change.

In light of the acquisition, the company will be referred to as “BioCentric—a JPA Health company” in the interim. Aly will remain the head of the division with the new title, Executive Vice President, Medical Communications. The entire BioCentric team will join JPA Health with no redundancies.

Carrie Jones

“I am thrilled to have acquired BioCentric, a company that excels in delivering traditional medical communications services that are both highly scientific and complex in a creatively compelling way,” JPA Health CEO Carrie Jones told O’Dwyer’s. “Their expertise in learning and training is a true differentiator, especially given the rapidly changing pharmaceutical industry where effective training is increasingly important. Furthermore, BioCentric’s culture aligns perfectly with JPA’s values, which focus on helping people live healthier lives.”

It’s JPA’s second acquisition in less than a year. In October, the agency acquired Cambridge, MA-based consulting firm True North Solutions. JPA last summer also launched GRETEL Trails, a proprietary AI-powered insight engine and chatbot.

Washington, D.C.-headquartered JPA Health, which also maintains offices in New York, Boston and London, was founded in 2007. The agency was ranked the #12 agency by O’Dwyer’s for healthcare PR, accounting for more than $24 million in healthcare-related net fees in 2023, a 21.5 percent rise from 2022.