We’re excited to announce the addition of Amar Urhekar as our new Chief Operating Officer (COO), a pioneer in bringing together interdisciplinary teams to solve client challenges and accelerate growth.

Amar will play a key role with the company’s Executive Committee as he unites 1,600 employees as one team under a single vision, breaking down barriers to faster-connect patients to life-enhancing therapies. All business units — Consulting; Medical; Policy, Access, Value, Evidence; Marketing; and Digital Experience Technology — will report to him. With a holistic view of the business, Amar will continue building global cross-functional teams, spanning North America, Europe, and Asia, uniting the collective intelligence, deep expertise, and creativity of Avalere Health’s experts to develop agile and innovative solutions along the path to product commercialization.

Amar is an experienced, global leader who has spent more than 20 years transforming agencies to lead the markets they serve in the Asia Pacific Region, Europe, and the U.S. As COO, he will oversee all of Avalere Health’s services, execute the company’s business strategy, support and recruit skilled team members, and nurture the ongoing digital advancements for the company. He will also serve as a member of Avalere Health’s board of directors.

“The challenges that face our industry are not siloed and neither should our creativity, strategies, and mission to drive exceptional outcomes,” said our CEO, Jon Koch. “It takes the right experience to see the connections and pinpoint solutions that drive lasting advancements in health. Amar’s experience is uncommon, spanning continents and helping brands thrive at different stages of a product lifecycle. He complements our leadership in a way that will ensure we reach our full potential for clients and staff alike.”

Prior to joining Avalere Health, Amar served as Global Group President at Evoke, leading a multi-regional creative, marketing, and advertising agency platform. In 2019, Amar took charge of Ashfield Health as its Global President where he drove substantial growth and galvanized internal teams and leaders under a single vision, simplifying the internal structure to ensure the smoother delivery of client work. Under his direction, the network grew substantially and won its first Mid-size Network of the Year recognition.

Prior to his work at Ashfield, Amar was a founding member of McCann Health India and then took on leadership roles in China, Japan, and Singapore, including as Regional Director, APAC. He then relocated to the USA, as President of McCann Health Americas where he doubled the size of the network.

“Avalere Health is at an exciting time in its evolution,” said Amar. “The last few years have pushed the pace of change in our industry characterized by the growth of complex therapies, accelerated approvals, legislative changes, and competitive pressures. The industry is at an inflection point and a specific assimilation of expertise is needed. Avalere Health’s response to these challenges is different than other organizations. The commercialization partner has unrivaled expertise in healthcare policy, a strong command of value, evidence, and access, and an arsenal of novel digital and data-driven experiences. We’re at the scale to be truly agile and we have the expertise and services to drive integration in a unique way that benefits clients and, ultimately, patients. This is what attracted me to Avalere Health.”

Amar will report to Jon. Currently, both Jon and Amar are focused on completing the next stage of Avalere Health’s integration strategy. Already, there is excitement for what they and the executive leadership team will accomplish together, with a significant announcement planned in the coming month.