WeissComm Partners Announces Several Major New Hires and More Than 10 New Accounts

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- WeissComm Partners, the largest independent communications agency focused solely on the healthcare industry, today announced several new hires and client wins that are driving continued growth.

The new hires include Stacie Byars, Senior Associate, formerly Director of Corporate Communications at Targeted Genetics; Tim Friend, Senior Associate, formerly a medical journalist at USA Today; Shari Germershausen, Senior Associate, who joins from Manning, Selvage and Lee; Julie Johnson, Senior Associate, who joins from Porter Novelli Life Sciences; Anna McCollister-Slipp,

Senior Associate, formerly of Manning Selvage and Lee; and Lori Rosen, Senior Associate, who joins from Porter Novelli. The company now employs nearly 75 people in its full-service offices in New York, San Francisco and Chicago and other locations throughout the United States.

The new client wins represent the diverse range of healthcare sectors WeissComm services, including biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics and pharmaceuticals. They include The Medicines Company, Ardea Biosciences, Cyclacel, Lev Pharmaceuticals, Neurobiological Technologies, PEAK Surgical, Prestwick Pharmaceuticals, VIA Pharmaceuticals, Spinemark, product communications for Anesiva's analgesic drug Adlea, and global communications for a major new oral cancer drug.

"We continue to attract the best and the brightest communications professionals in the healthcare space, which enables us to offer our new and existing clients the highest quality counsel and service in ever-expanding areas. These include investor relations, product communications, clinical trial recruitment, crisis communications and issues management, and media and advocacy relations," said Diane Weiser, COO of WeissComm. "We strive to not only bring in talented, great people, but to keep them here, as evidenced by our low turnover rate of only three percent in 2007."

About WeissComm Partners

WeissComm Partners is a full-service public relations agency focused exclusively on serving the corporate and product communications needs of leading biotechnology, pharmaceutical, device and diagnostic companies. WeissComm's team of seasoned professionals specialize in healthcare marketing, corporate and product PR, investor and advocacy relations, clinical trial recruitment and grassroots direct-to-patient PR programs. Ranked among the top independent PR firms in the United States, WeissComm serves clients globally with offices in San Francisco, New York and Chicago, and in London via a strategic alliance with Resolute Communications. For more information, please visit http://www.wcpglobal.com.