Peter Pitts Joins Agency as Partner and Director, Global Health Care

    NEW YORK, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Public relations firm Porter Novelli
has named Peter Pitts, 49, partner and director of global health care.

    In addition to his role at Porter Novelli, Pitts is the co-founder and
president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, a think tank
for public health care policy issues. He was formerly a senior vice
president, director for global health affairs, at Manning Selvage & Lee.

    "Peter is a big thinker on the issues confronting our healthcare
clients," said Julie Winskie, Americas president and chief client officer
of Porter Novelli. "His FDA experience makes him a formidable counselor in
this historically significant and evolving practice area for Porter
Novelli," added Winskie.

    Pitts will manage the overall Porter Novelli health care team from the
New York office. He will work with executive teams globally and in each
region to strategize the course of health care growth across the
organization, and he will ensure delivery of Porter Novelli's value
proposition to new and existing clients. Pitts will report directly to
Winskie.

    "I am thrilled to be joining a cutting-edge communications agency with
such a strong and proud heritage," said Pitts. "I look forward to working
with a first-class team to continue to grow and exceed client
expectations."

    From 2002 to 2004, Pitts served as the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's associate commissioner for External Relations, where he
acted as senior communications and policy adviser to the Commissioner. He
supervised the FDA's Office of Public Affairs, Office of the Ombudsman,
Office of Special Health Issues, Office of Executive Secretariat and
Advisory Committee Oversight and Management. He served on the agency's
obesity working group and counterfeit drug task force.

    "Porter Novelli employs highly engaged senior client counselors to meet
today's complex client needs," said Gary Stockman, chief executive officer
of Porter Novelli. "I am pleased we are able to provide this strong proof
point of our commitment to health care as an industry."

    Pitts edited the recent book "Coincidence or Crisis," a discussion of
global prescription medicine counterfeit. He co-wrote "Become Strategic or
Die," which is widely recognized as a cutting edge study of how leadership,
in order to be successful over the long term, must be combined with
strategic vision and ethical practice.

    A graduate of McGill University, Pitts has served as an adjunct
professor at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental
Affairs and at Butler University. He and his wife have two sons.

    About Porter Novelli

    A global public relations leader, Porter Novelli was founded in 1972
and is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC). Selected 2009 PRWeek
Agency to Watch, Porter Novelli was also recognized in ZDNet's social PR
survey as a firm that "really gets it." With 100 offices in 60 countries,
Porter Novelli helps clients achieve Intelligent Influence -- changing
attitudes and behaviors by having the right conversations with the right
people at the right time. Visit porternovelli.com.