SINGAPORE — GCI Health has expanded to Asia with the launch of a Singapore office, led by Rikki Jones, who relocates to the region to become Asia-Pacific MD.

Jones, who previously founded the firm's European rollout in London, moves to Singapore later this month and continues to report to GCI Health CEO Wendy Lund. In London, meanwhile, MD Kath Kerry takes on sole leadership responsibilities.

The WPP firm's Asian expansion comes after it opened for business in Europe in 2013. "With Asian healthcare systems and markets rapidly evolving, the need for specialist agency expertise does too," said Lund. "As a health dedicated agency with an established, deep and diverse presence in the Americas and Europe, the time is right to expand our local capability in Asia."

Jones has been with GCI since 2013, when she shifted from sister agency Cohn & Wolfe. In Asia, GCI Health will focus on four areas as it attempts to build its regional presence: life sciences, market access communications, strategic consulting and consumer wellness.