- Steve McClellan

NEW YORK Bristol-Myers Squibb has awarded its media assignment to Publicis Groupe's MediaVest after a review, the client has confirmed.

The company spent $420 million on measured media in 2008, according to Nielsen. Through the first four months of this year, the client spent $172 million, per Nielsen.

The incumbent on the business is WPP Group's Mindshare, which participated in the review that began in April. Other contenders included Havas' MPG. The agencies either declined comment or referred questions to the client.

A client representative confirmed the decision without further elaboration or comment.

Mindshare won the business in 2001 after a review. Previously, the company had handled its media planning and buying internally.

The company reported close to $21 billion in sales in 2008. It identifies its top selling brands as Plavix ($5.6 billion), Abilify ($2.2 billion), Avapro/Avalide ($1.3 billion), Reyataz ($1.3 billion) and Sustiva ($1.1 billion).