In a year marked by unprecedented change and a new necessity for adaptability, the Communiqué Awards held its first virtual awards event on 2 July showcasing the best work in healthcare communications.

The annual Communiqué Awards 2020 was broadcast live straight to the screens of those watching at home on the day, with 1,400 live views and 37,000 minutes watched in total.

The live screening also took social media by storm – 500 tweets were sent and of those, 370 went on the Communiqué social media wall. This impressive activity also resulted in the Communiqué hashtag – #cxhealth – trending 9th in the UK.

The live stream awards ceremony was hosted by BBC World News presenter, journalist and author Babita Sharma, with the Communiqué Awards co-chairs Louise Dunn and Annabelle Sandeman kicking off the awards with an opening address.

Winning across three categories were communications agency Mearns & Pike and digital agency Electric Putty for their immersive app In My Shoes: 24 Hours with Crohn’s or Colitis, for Crohn’s & Colitis UK and Takeda.

The campaign was a huge success, taking home the Excellence in Patient Programmes Award, the Excellence in Healthcare Partnerships Award and the Porterhouse Medical Award for Innovation in Healthcare Communications.

Mearns and Pike also picked up an Excellence in National or Local Education Meetings/Stand-Alone Events Award for ‘The World Through Patients’ Eyes: Immersive Role Play Training for Ophthalmologists’ for Santen.

Evoke KYNE won across two categories, picking up the Excellence in Public Health Communications Award and the Excellence in Media Relations Award for its ‘Not Every Disability is Visible’ programme for Crohn’s and Colitis UK and Janssen-Cilag Ltd.

ENGINE MHP and Alzheimer’s Research UK picked up the coveted Charitable Campaign of the Year Award for their collaborative and innovative campaign for increased research funding.

OPEN Health Medical Communications won the Publicis Health Award for Medical Affairs Agency of the Year award, thanks to the agency’s outstanding medical affairs expertise.

A comprehensive range of companies were recognised throughout the ceremony – out of the 29 categories, the finalists included 50 agencies, 40 pharma companies and ten charities.

Commenting on the success of the first virtual Communiqué Awards, Debbie Tuesley, events director at PMGroup said: “It was fantastic to see such a positive response both before, during and after to the live stream awards. In this exceptional year, we have been very proud to ensure that the outstanding work taking place in support of patients in the healthcare medical affairs and communications industry can continue to be recognised

Excellence in the Use of Data to Inform Campaign and/or Communication of Medical Insight Data
Sponsored by Bedrock Healthcare Communications
Winner:
Emma, Work Colleague of the Future
by Virgo Health for Fellowes

Best Use of Data Visualisation
Sponsored by OPEN health
Winner:
From Data to Policy Action: How Pfizer’s CTRL Cancer Partnership is Facilitating Policy Change to Improve Cancer Care in Central and Eastern Europe
by Porter Novelli for Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group/Oncology

Excellence in Global Education Meetings/Stand-Alone Events
Sponsored by HEALTH UNLIMITED
Winner:
LiBRA 2019: Looking Beyond the Joint in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): Is There a Missing Link in RA Management?
by Lucid Group for Sanofi Genzyme

Excellence in National or Local Education Meetings/Stand-Alone Events
Sponsored by ENGINE MHP
Winner:
The World Through Patients’ Eyes: Immersive Role Play Training for Ophthalmologists
by Mearns & Pike for Santen

Excellence in Professional Education Programmes
Sponsored by earthware
Winner:
Academy for Science and Continuing Medical Education in Diabetes (ASCEND)
by International Medical Press (a part of Nucleus Global) for Novo Nordisk [unrestricted grant provider]

Excellence in Multichannel Communications
Sponsored by Hanover
Winner:
Breaking Depression – A Story of 40 Million Broken Pieces
by Publicis Health for Janssen EMEA

Excellence in Pre-Commercialisation Communications
Sponsored by Novartis UK
Winner:
Keeping Maturation on Track. Raising Awareness of Erythroid Maturation Defect in Europe and Canada
by MediTech Media (a part of Nucleus Global) for Celgene – a BMS Company

Excellence in Communications – Payers/Policy Makers
Sponsored by Nucleus Global
Winner:
Dementia Strikes Children Too: Collaborative Campaigning for Access
by Portland for BioMarin

Excellence in Public Health Communications
Sponsored by JPA Health
Winner:
Not Every Disability is Visible
by Evoke KYNE for Crohn’s and Colitis UK and Janssen-Cilag Limited

Excellence in Patient Programmes
Sponsored by Frontera Group
Winner:
In My Shoes: 24 Hours with Crohn’s or Colitis
by Mearns & Pike and Electric Putty for Crohn’s & Colitis UK and Takeda

Excellence in Healthcare Partnerships
Sponsored by Syneos Health Communications
Winner:
In My Shoes: 24 Hours with Crohn’s or Colitis
by Mearns & Pike and Electric Putty for Crohn’s & Colitis UK and Takeda

Excellence in Media Relations
Sponsored by GCI Health
Winner:
Not Every Disability is Visible
by Evoke KYNE for Crohn’s and Colitis UK and Janssen-Cilag Limited

Excellence in Social Media Strategy
Sponsored by Evoke KYNE
Winner:
Tackle TD: On the Sidelines
by Havas SO for Bayer

Excellence in Engagement Through Digital Channels
Sponsored by Page & Page
Winner:
It’s More than Height, It’s Health!: Empowering Parents to Measure their Child’s Growth
by Edelman for Novo Nordisk

The Say Communications Award for Excellence in Communication Through Creative Execution
Sponsored by Say Communications
Winner:
Breaking Depression – A Story of 40 Million Broken Pieces
by Publicis Health for Janssen EMEA

The 90TEN Award for Excellence in Corporate Communications – Internal Stakeholders
Sponsored by 90TEN
Winner:
London 2020: Novartis UK HQ Relocation Project
by Novartis

The 90TEN Award for Excellence in Corporate Communications – External Stakeholders
Sponsored by 90TEN
Winner:
Unique Bond
by Burson Cohn Wolfe for Boehringer Ingelheim

The Porterhouse Medical Award for Innovation in Scientific Communications
Sponsored by Porterhouse Medical
Winner:
Changing Practice in Dermatology through a Multifaceted, Innovative, Immersive Approach to Learning: the ‘Hands-On’ Programme
by ApotheCom – A MEDiSTRAVA Company for Novartis

The Porterhouse Medical Award for Innovation in Healthcare Communications
Sponsored by Porterhouse Medical
Winner:
In My Shoes: 24 Hours with Crohn’s or Colitis
by Mearns & Pike and Electric Putty for Crohn’s & Colitis UK and Takeda

Charitable Campaign of the Year
Sponsored by dna Communications
Winner:
Shooting for the Moon: Securing New Government Funding for Dementia Research
by ENGINE MHP for Alzheimer’s Research UK

The Publicis Health Award for Young Achiever in Healthcare Communications
Sponsored by Publicis Health
Winner:
Isabel Gibson W2O

Healthcare Communications Leader
Sponsored by Mearns & Pike
Winner:
Sarah Mikhailov

Healthcare Communiquétor
Sponsored by McCann Health Medical Communications
Winner:
David Kyne

Healthcare Communications Advocate
Sponsored by Virgo Health
Winner:
Kristin Hallenga

In-House Team of the Year
Sponsored by Pegasus
Winner:
Leading Through Change Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Communiqué Small Consultancy of the Year
Sponsored by Solaris Health
Winner:
Attigo CIC

Communiqué Public Affairs and Policy Consultancy of the Year
Sponsored by Zenopa
Winner:
ENGINE MHP

The Publicis Health Award for Medical Affairs Agency of the Year
Sponsored by Publicis Health
Winner:
OPEN Health Medical Communications

Communiqué Communications Consultancy of the Year
Sponsored by Aurora
Winner:
90TEN