SOMERSET, N.J., April 18, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- inVentiv Health (Nasdaq:VTIV) is pleased to announce that two of its companies won top honors last night at the 2008 Manny Awards, a competition that recognizes excellence among healthcare advertising agencies. GSW Worldwide was named 2008 Most Creative Agency and won awards for Best Professional Advertisement and Best Professional Website. Blue Diesel received the Best Patient Website award. The Manny Awards are sponsored by Med Ad News, one of the leading publications in the healthcare marketing industry.
"This recognition is truly an honor for GSW Worldwide and a tribute to the dedicated individuals who continually produce such great work throughout our agency," said Bruce Rooke, Chief Creative Officer at GSW Worldwide. "To be named Most Creative Agency two out of the last three years is quite an amazing accomplishment for our organization. It exemplifies the creative spirit and passion our agency teams have for creating liberating ideas for our clients."
GSW Worldwide won the Best Professional Website award for Woozyworld, an "edutainment" website for MGI Pharma. The site was developed to provide healthcare professionals with interactive experiences that demonstrate the serious problems caused by post operative nausea and vomiting (PONV).
The agency also was honored with Best Professional Advertisement for its "Itchcraft" print ad campaign, developed for Astellas Pharma's Protopic. The ads, which were geared toward physicians, celebrate the extraordinary lengths to which eczema sufferers will go to relieve the incessant itch that comes with the condition.
Blue Diesel won Best Patient Website for ShareYourPain.com. Developed for Cephalon, the site was designed to create a conversation between physicians and patients on the topic of breakthrough pain and to build awareness of Cephalon as a leading pain franchise. ShareYourPain.com uses community, emotion, and viral communication to engage patients.
"Winning this award is a thrill," said Kelly Gratz, President of Blue Diesel. "Our vision for the past year has been to 'Dare Mighty Things' and, thanks to the support and courage of clients like Cephalon, we have realized that vision."
According to Med Ad News, the Most Creative Agency honor recognizes the agency that has produced the most outstanding compilation of creative work over the past year. The creative directors at the top 100 healthcare agencies in the U.S. vote to determine the winner. The Best Professional Advertisement, Best Patient Website, and Best Professional Website awards are selected by industry creative directors who vote via a website gallery of submissions from various healthcare agencies.
In addition to the three awards it won, GSW Worldwide also was nominated for Most Admired Agency and Most Feared Agency this year. GSW Worldwide was previously recognized by Med Ad News as Most Creative Agency in 2006 and Agency of the Year in 2007.
This is the first year Blue Diesel has been nominated for a Manny Award.
About inVentiv Health
inVentiv Health (Nasdaq:VTIV) is the leading provider of commercialization and complementary services to the healthcare industry globally. inVentiv delivers its customized clinical, sales, marketing and communications solutions through its four core business segments: inVentiv Clinical, inVentiv Communications, inVentiv Commercial and inVentiv Patient Outcomes. inVentiv Health's client roster is comprised of more than 325 leading pharmaceutical, biotech, life sciences and healthcare payor companies, including the top 20 global pharmaceutical manufacturers. For more information, visit www.inventivhealth.com.
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