According to industry sources, it is understood that the pitch process included incumbent agency Cheil Worldwide, with GroupM and Starcom also in the mix.
R3 managed the pitch, but was unavailable for comment. Campaign Asia-Pacific contacted both Omnicom and Cheil for comment but did not receive a response at time of writing.
It has been reported that in Australia, Pfizer recently awarded its media business to Ikon Group Sydney after a closed pitch. The agency takes over from incumbent Match Media.
Earlier this year in February, the pharmaceutical giant moved a portion of its media buying business to IPG Mediabrands in Hong Kong, including some pharmaceutical brands previously held by Mindshare. Brands in the shift included Viagra and Metamucil.