Winners 2023
Best pharmaceutical product launch (OTC)
The launch of Gina®, the first and only HRT treatment available without prescription
Real Chemistry
"We can't print the word vagina". It’s early 2022 and the word vagina is taboo. At least, if you talk to the UK’s press it is. Political turmoil, a nation mourning its Queen, and a prudish press all threatened to stand between women and a healthy vagina. Real Chemistry’s job – use the launch of Gina®, the first and only HRT treatment ...
Berocca Immuno ‘Bring It On’ for Bayer
Evoke Mind+Matter
Berocca is a brand in evolution. Berocca Immuno partnered with the energetic celebrity go-getter chef Gino D’Acampo, to develop a social-first campaign, delivering content that entertains and educates on the product benefits. Who else could better embody this brand attitude? Being a genuine Berocca brand fan, he gave a glimpse into his...
Best pharmaceutical product launch (non-OTC)
Launching Adakveo(R): First treatment for sickle cell in 20 years
Havas Life Medicom
Imagine living with the unpredictability of an illness where episodes of severe pain can strike at any moment. Then imagine there’s been no new treatments in over 20 years. For many of the 15,000 people living with sickle cell disorder (SCD) in the UK, this has been their reality. Introducing, Adakveo®, would be a significant step forw...
Best Healthcare Product Launch
Launching the world’s first technology platform dedicated to recovery from addiction
M+F Health
To launch the recovery platform, Recoverlution, a multi-channel approach was deployed, including data-led news generation, celebrity ambassador liaison, media relations, media training, message development, partner and stakeholder engagement, social media strategy and implementation. Our insights highlighted that only 14% of the 128,00...
Best Public Health Awareness Campaign
The Sound of Science: A Tinnitus Biobank
Evergreen PR
Tinnitus - the perception of noises in the ear/head - can severely impact mental health. We wanted to attract 1,000 people to sign-up for a Tinnitus Biobank to help in the race to find cures. Through an insight-led integrated campaign, we delivered hundreds of media articles and organically engaged tens of thousands with an animated ex...
Canesten – The Truth, Undressed
Evoke Mind+Matter, Analog Folk & EssenceMediacom
The Truth, Undressed is a unique programme, targeting people with a vagina, aged 11-24. It’s designed to break down the misconceptions and taboos that surround vulval anatomy and vaginal health by cutting straight to the uncensored truth. For the first time ever, it gives young people unprecedented access to images of real vulvas (...
Don't Go Red
MHP Group
Our brief was to come up with a bold and creative idea for World Bladder Cancer Awareness month in May. Don’t Go Red was a ground-breaking global campaign to raise awareness of bladder cancer by tackling taboos about the subject head-on. We linked people’s sense of embarrassment to the warning sign of blood in your urine ...
HER Disease
Heart Research UK
Coronary heart disease kills twice as many women as breast cancer every year, yet it is often considered to be a ‘man’s disease’. Heart Research UK and creative agency AML launched a women’s awareness campaign called HER Disease, raising awareness of how women are affected by and dying needlessly from heart disease. Using powerful crea...
Speaking Up For COPD
Edelman
AstraZeneca convened a coalition of experts, advocates and industry partners, to drive an urgency to act and establish COPD as a public health priority. COPD remains under-prioritised, under-funded and under-treated despite being the third leading cause of death worldwide. AstraZeneca, GAAPP, IFA and Chiesi launched the Speak Up for CO...
Best use of Public Affairs in a Healthcare/Pharma Campaign
The Infection Management Coalition
Hanover Communications
COVID-19 brought to the world’s attention the devastating impact of an infectious disease and the urgent need to consider infection management holistically. Coined as the ‘hidden pandemic’, concerns are rising that antimicrobial resistant infections are already presenting the next global health crisis. The Infection Management Coalitio...
Stomas in Parliament - driving a 'call to action'
Coloplast UK and Four Communications
People with a stoma face many physical and emotional challenges. However, access to specialist stoma care is highly variable across the UK. Coloplast UK, in partnership with Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Association, Urostomy Association, and Colostomy UK articulated the challenges people with stomas face, in order to inspire conversati...
ADHD and the Criminal Justice System
MHP Group
We were challenged to work with stakeholders to develop policy solutions to get people with ADHD in the CJS the support that they need. Takeda wanted ADHD to be acknowledged and included within policy documents including the Government’s Prisons Strategy White Paper and ask the Government to bring forward an Action Plan. ...
Improving Asthma Control for a Reduced Carbon Footprint
MHP Group
Inhalers are crucial for managing the one million asthma attacks suffered by UK adults each year. However, the propellants used in some inhalers are a small but important contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. AstraZeneca launched its pioneering The CARBON programme which aims to calculate the impact of poor disease c...
Best use of Media Relations in a Healthcare/Pharma Campaign
Best Use of Media Relations in a Healthcare/Pharma Campaign
Lexington
Nuffield Health is driven by its purpose to build a healthier nation. To raise awareness of the health inequalities they seek to address, we led a national media debate on the barriers to women prioritising physical fitness. Our campaign, launched during the Women’s Euros, did just that. We secured 700+ pieces of coverage, drove an 6% ...
See My Pain
Golin
Women’s pain is not taken seriously, often ignored, or deemed “emotional”, with over one in two women feeling their pain is ignored because of their gender. To launch Nurofen’s new brand platform and social mission to help close the Gender Pain Gap, we created a powerful combination of consumer PR, brand action and HCP engagement to re...
Cytosponge: Launching improved cancer screening in Scotland
Four Health Communications
Following COVID-19, Scotland’s national screening programme was changed to use a new medical device, Cytosponge, instead of upper GI endoscopy. Our client, tasked us with a media launch to celebrate Scotland as the first country in the world to adopt the novel device, and raise mass awareness. Placing health stories at this time was pa...
Launching a world-first collaboration between Novartis UK and the NHS
Hanover Communications
Cholesterol medicines aren’t new, but launching one with a novel mode of action straight into a primary care setting, to be adopted at scale (in partnership with the NHS), is. This was a complex, world-first which needed a powerful media relations campaign. We thought being a top news story (health-related, during a Global pandemic) wa...
Share Good Times Not Flu
MHP Group
AstraZeneca wanted a childhood flu public awareness campaign to support the Government’s aim to vaccinate children against the virus. ‘Share Good Times Not Flu’ overcame post-Covid vaccine fatigue to encourage parents to protect their children against flu, helping to secure an impressive 67% rate among eligible primary ...
The Sound of Science: A Tinnitus Biobank
Evergreen PR
Tinnitus - the perception of noises in the ear/head - can severely impact mental health. We wanted to attract 1,000 people to sign-up for a Tinnitus Biobank to help in the race to find cures. Through an insight-led integrated campaign, we delivered hundreds of media articles and organically engaged tens of thousands with an animated ex...
Best use of Social Media and/or Influencers in a Healthcare/Pharma Campaign
#FERTILiTYAWKS PHASE 2
Syneos Health
Nearly 50 million couples worldwide, and over 180 million individuals, experience fertility issues each year. This campaign harnessed the power of peer-to-peer digital comms. a starring role in dramatising their own awkward moments by self-recording film snippets in and around their homes. Who better to tell their story? Overall, the c...
Share Good Times Not Flu
MHP Group
AstraZeneca wanted a childhood flu public awareness campaign to support the Government’s aim to vaccinate children against the virus. ‘Share Good Times Not Flu’ overcame post-Covid vaccine fatigue to encourage parents to protect their children against flu, helping to secure an impressive 67% rate among eligible primary s...
Influencing better healthcare
Hotwire
In 2021 OMRON were at the cutting edge of medical technology innovation, launching new devices including a blood pressure monitor and an at home wheeze monitor. As the devices were largely unknown, OMRON needed to reach influential medical professionals and students to arm them with invaluable information about this new wave of innovat...
Best use of Content in a Healthcare/Pharma Campaign
We R.A. Priority: Challenging What is Possible in Rheumatoid Arthritis
akt health communications
Rheumatoid Arthritis affects hundreds of thousands of people in the UK. This invisible disability destroys families, careers, mental health and physical ability and too often not recognised as a priority. For Galapagos – a Biotech company taking its first steps into the UK market – this was unacceptable. Insight showed that many saw...
Canesten – The Truth, Undressed
Evoke Mind+Matter, Analog Folk & EssenceMediacom
The Truth, Undressed is a unique programme, targeting people with a vagina, aged 11-24. It’s designed to break down the misconceptions and taboos that surround vulval anatomy and vaginal health by cutting straight to the uncensored truth. For the first time ever, it gives young people unprecedented access to images of real vulvas (...
Code Red: Switch-up on Sickle (switchuponsickle.co.uk)
Havas Life Medicom
Imagine living with the unpredictability of an illness where episodes of severe pain can strike at any moment. Then imagine there’s been no new treatment options in more than 20 years. For many of the 15,000 people living with sickle cell disorder (SCD) in the UK, this has been reality. After decades of neglect, giving a voice to this ...
Home Truths: Uncovering our risk of diabetes in a pandemic world
Hanover Communications
Finding out you are prediabetic may feel scary. But it could also be the wake-up call needed to make positive changes to the way you live. In 2021, Merck KGaA celebrated "Home Truths" – changes people had made to their lifestyles in lockdown, impacting their risk of diabetes, for better or worse. Through an extensive survey, re...
Psoriasis and Beyond
IPG
Psoriasis and Beyond was a joint research initiative between IFPA, the global patient organization fighting psoriatic disease, and Novartis. It was designed to generate data and educate on the lived experience of people with psoriatic disease.
Shine a Light on XLH
Porter Novelli
Despite XLH being a lifelong condition, it can be misconceived as a childhood disease, making it difficult for adults living with the condition to find specialists who can provide the right care. Working closely with the XLH community, Our mission was to create a more emotional, memorable and impactful story about how XLH affects real ...
Healthcare/Pharma Comms Newcomer of the Year
Niya Terzieva
Syneos Health Communications
In just one year, Niya has made a name for herself in the Healthcare Pharma Comms space. From managing a global disease awareness campaign which filmed strangers in the streets of London, to hosting global expert patient councils with multiple patient advocacy groups, Niya is the perfect example of someone with versatility, flexibility...
Holly Barber, Consultant
Hanover Communications
Holly is a Consultant (Account Manager) in the Healthcare Communications team at Hanover. Holly’s ability to deliver outstanding results and her passion for the healthcare arena drives her to deliver excellence in all that she does, both in terms of her client handling and as a leader amongst her peers. Her creative approach to problem...
Megan Greenhalgh, Account Executive
Hanover Communications
Megan is an Account Executive in the Healthcare Communications team at Hanover. She currently supports pharmaceutical, medical technology and NHS clients including Takeda, Celltrion and NHS Property Services. Prior to joining Hanover, Megan gained a First Class Honours in Geography (BA) from the University of Durham and has recently...
Best Healthcare/Pharma Comms Agency
From Start-Up to Stand-Out
akt health communications
Just four years ago, the founders of akt health set out to create an agency that would do one thing: shape the future of healthcare. In a world where we saw medical innovation thriving, we wanted to make sure it was reaching those in need – to be the difference between ‘a great idea’ and a life changed forever. Over the past year ou...
Accelerating growth in 2022
Ruder Finn UK
‘What’s Next?’ defines Ruder Finn’s approach. We're constantly challenging ourselves and our clients to look beyond the obvious and embrace change. This restless, relentless approach led us to deliver standout commercial and creative results in 2022. At a time when many businesses were striving to get back to ‘normality’, we had an exc...
GCI Health
GCI Health is a specialist healthcare communications agency Inspired by People. More than a tagline, this mantra grounds our approach and how we operate. Translating the deep-rooted need for human connection and experience into a 2021 business plan, we worked with clients to redefine how they connect with audiences by putting ‘Authenti...
Best Healthcare/Pharma Comms Agency
Arc Bio Communications
In 2022, Arc Bio Communications was listed by PRWeek as the UK’s fastest-growing healthcare consultancy with fees over £3m. The drivers behind our success: our collaborative culture, collective ambition and passion for bringing our clients' innovations to life. Arc Bio combines the business savvy of management consulting with the scien...
Evoke Kyne for Best Healthcare/Pharma Comms Agency
Evoke Kyne
Evoke Kyne is a global, health communications agency that harnesses insight, experience and creativity to advance health and wellbeing around the world. 2022 has been a big year for us - we achieved 10% global growth in our business, maintained industry-leading employee satisfaction and retention and nearly doubled the size of our team...
Virgo Health
As we grew at pace, evolved our capabilities and fully-embraced hybrid working, we knew we needed to maintain focus on our ‘people first’ culture. By encouraging continuous feedback and intentionally cultivating our hybrid culture, we brought our people on the journey, delivering a phenomenal year that unlocked record-breaking growth a...
Best Healthcare/Pharma In-House Comms Team
WINNER: Bupa Global & UK Press Office
Our team is made up of six people, managing External Relations for Bupa Global & UK, supporting the five business lines it comprises. We operate a UK Insurance business, Global Insurance business, dental practices, Care homes and Health services, which is made up of health clinics and the Cromwell Hospital. For each campaign, we pitch ...
Best Healthcare Agency Merger & Acquisition Deal
Resonant Group's successful acquisition of Anthem PR
Resonant Group
The primary goal of any acquisition is the ultra-rare win-win-win-win outcome, where the seller, acquirer, people and clients all feel that they have benefitted from the deal. The acquisition of OPEN Health’s PR business by Resonant Group has defied the odds and within a year of acquisition has created significant value for all stakeho...
Evoke – unlocking potential to make health more human™
Evoke
2022 saw the creation of a new global force in the healthcare marketing and communications agency world. The combination of Evoke and Ashfield Health’s communications, public relations, and advertising agencies into one agile platform – under the Evoke name – resulted in an organization of 1,400+ people across global practice area team...
Best Agency Healthcare/Pharma Comms Practice
Delivering Breakthrough Work
Hanover Communications
The fast-growing Hanover Health team attracts the brightest talent in the business and works with more than half of the world’s top ten pharmaceutical companies alongside the NHS, coalitions, charities and breakthrough health start-ups.
MHP Group Health Team
MHP Group
Healthcare communications needed to significantly shift post pandemic to reflect the increasingly polarised and connected world we live in. Despite the headwinds, we surpassed expectations. Giving voices to under-recognised and under-represented healthcare conditions which desperately needed attention; investing in primary research wit...
Brands2Life Health & Wellbeing Team
Brands2Life
2021-2022 saw Health & Wellbeing at Brands2Life take a transformational approach to helping health brands in this new storytelling era. Putting customer-centricity, creative excellence and an omnichannel approach at the heart of our strategies. Four years after launch, Health & Wellbeing is the fastest growing practice since the ag...
Broadening and Innovating for Growth
FleishmanHillard UK, Healthcare
Growing the Healthcare team to maintain average annual revenue growth is a test of leadership, team culture and operational effectiveness. In 2022, that meant doubling down on the practice’s ‘One Team’ ethos, reasserting core values of agility, openness, learning mindset and fun, while continuing to deliver unrivalled counsel, programm...
