Agency ProfileRegional & Full-Service

Tonic Life Communications: Healthcare PR Agency History

Tonic Life Communications was a healthcare PR agency known for HealtheVoices for Janssen, acquired by Huntsworth Health in 2009 and later folded into Evoke.

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Regional & Full-Service

Updated

Oct 23, 2026

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EPR Editorial Team

Firm summary

Tonic Life Communications was a healthcare PR agency with offices in Philadelphia and Europe, founded by Scott Clark, Moira Gitsham and Oliver Parsons and acquired by Huntsworth Health in 2009. It is best known for creating HealtheVoices, a conference for online health advocates, for Janssen. Huntsworth later folded Tonic into its Evoke Group, now Inizio Evoke, whose leadership page lists other communications brands rather than Tonic.

Company Info

Type: Healthcare and life sciences PR agency
Founders: Scott Clark, Moira Gitsham and Oliver Parsons, per Pharmafile
Acquired: By Huntsworth Health in 2009, per Pharmafile
Offices while operating independently: Philadelphia (U.S. headquarters) and London (European headquarters)
Leadership: Maryellen Royle, president of North America and later global CEO of Tonic; she is now Group President, Communications at Inizio Evoke, per Inizio and PRWeek
Later history: Combined into Huntsworth Health's Evoke Group alongside Nitrogen, under leaders Maryellen Royle and Jon Clark, per PMLiVE. Inizio Evoke's page lists Evoke Canale, Evoke Galliard, Evoke Incisive Health and Evoke Kyne as its communications agencies
Last verified: October 17, 2026, against PR News (2016), PMLiVE and Pharmafile reporting, PRWeek and MM&M, and Inizio's Evoke leadership page

Originally published April 2018. Updated October 23, 2026.

Where did Tonic Life Communications come from?

Pharmafile reported that Tonic's founding trio, Scott Clark, Moira Gitsham and Oliver Parsons, later reunited at SO What Global after the non-compete agreements from the sale of Tonic expired. PMLiVE lists a story on Clark and Parsons launching SO What Global. Huntsworth Health acquired the agency in 2009, and it operated inside the Huntsworth Health network alongside sister agencies such as Nitrogen and Evoke Health.

What was Tonic known for?

PR News profiled Tonic president Maryellen Royle in its 2016 Top Women in PR awards. It credited her team with two programs for long-standing client Janssen. One was BioExperience, which opened Janssen's manufacturing and supply chain to advocacy partners. The other was HealtheVoices, which PR News called the first conference created exclusively for online health advocates and bloggers; more than 60 bloggers attended in 2015, and Janssen was mentioned in more than 90 percent of the social posts from the event.

Who led Tonic Life Communications?

Maryellen Royle joined Tonic in 2009 as president of North America, according to Pharmafile, and PMLiVE reported that Huntsworth Health promoted her and Nitrogen's Jon Clark to the top roles of their agencies. PMLiVE also reported that Tonic named Ann Bartling, previously of Edelman, as European managing director.

What happened to Tonic?

PMLiVE reported that Nitrogen and Tonic joined Huntsworth's Evoke Group, with Royle and Clark continuing as leaders. Private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice bought Huntsworth in 2020, and Evoke later became part of Inizio. In January 2024 Evoke rebranded as Inizio Evoke, per MM&M. Inizio's Evoke page lists Royle as Group President, Communications, responsible for Evoke Canale, Evoke Galliard, Evoke Incisive Health and Evoke Kyne, and does not list Tonic.