LIVINGSTON, NJ--(Marketwired - Mar 24, 2014) - Med Ad News, the leading pharmaceutical business and marketing publication, announces the nominees for the 25th Anniversary Manny Awards, celebrating the best in pharmaceutical and healthcare advertising, and announces Charlene Prounis as the Industry Person of the Year. The Manny Awards is an annual gala event celebrating creative excellence in healthcare advertising and communications. More than 600 industry peers are expected to join Med Ad News in honoring winners in eight creative award categories, in addition to naming the year's Most Creative Agency, Most Admired Agency, Brand Team of the Year, Agency of the Year I, II and III and Best Video Submission. The Manny Awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 24, 2014, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York, N.Y.

The Manny Awards also continues its tradition of honoring agencies for their exceptional forward thinking and philanthropic efforts. The Vision Award recognizes exceptional ideas and initiatives that have the power to transform the way that healthcare communications agencies do business. The Heart Award was created by the Med Ad News editorial staff to recognize agencies' social responsibility and commitment to philanthropic and social causes. All three finalists selected will receive a cash donation to their respective causes. New this year, in partnership with MDLinx, Med Ad News will announce the winner of the inaugural Primary Cares Challenge for Charity Contest, selected by a panel of 1000 primary care health professionals, awarding a first prize of $500,000 in advertising exposure for the winning campaign's charitable organization.

Med Ad News is pleased to announce Charlene Prounis, CEO and managing partner of Flashpoint Medica, as the Industry Person of the Year. The honor recognizes Prounis' business leadership and commitment to the healthcare communications industry. Charlene was chosen as Person of the Year based in part on the testimonials of current and former employees, agency peers, and industry clients who praised her leadership skills, mentoring, passion, commitment, sharp intelligence, down-to-earth practicality, and strategic decision-making abilities. Charlene has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to our industry.

Charlene has been active in healthcare her entire professional life. Working first as a nurse, then as a pharmaceutical sales representative, she entered medical advertising in the 1980s, steadily working her way up within Grey Healthcare Group. In 1999, she co-founded Accel Healthcare, which quickly developed into a top-20 agency before merging it into Corbett Accel New York in 2004. Today, Prounis heads up her second successful agency, Flashpoint Medica, which opened in 2005. In 2008, Flashpoint was named Med Ad News' Agency of the Year. Steadily evolving and innovating, the company continues to distinguish itself as one of the nation's leading multichannel healthcare agencies. In 2013, Flashpoint generated double-digit revenue growth for a third consecutive year, welcomed 35 new employees, and won 15 creative awards.

Prounis' business leadership and mentoring activities extend beyond her company. She has earned accolades for her leadership in the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, serving as president twice, first in 1998 when she was instrumental in introducing the "Rising Stars," which is now a key highlight at every Woman of the Year Luncheon. She's also launched the HBA Leadership Conference and started the first research initiative, the POWER Study, to assess the progress of women in the industry. In 2004, in her second tenure as president, she launched the HBA Metro Chapter. Charlene also won the prestigious HBA Star Volunteer award twice, most recently at the 2010 Woman of the Year luncheon. In 2013, she received the Women's Venture Fund's Highest Leaf Award recognizing her business leadership and commitment to helping other women succeed. Prounis is also active with the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame, recently helping establish a series of educational programs for the next generation of healthcare communicators identified as Future Famers.

Voted by industry peers and the editors of Med Ad News, the 25th Anniversary Manny Award nominees are:

Agency of the Year - Category I

• Digitas Health
• GSW
• Intouch Solutions

Agency of the Year - Category II

• The CementBloc
• Giant Creative Strategy
• McCann Torre Lazur

Agency of the Year - Category III

• Concentric Health Experience
• Fingerpaint
• ICC Lowe Trio

Heart Award

• Klick Health
• Natrel Communications
• Neon

Vision Award

• CMI/Compas
• GreaterThanOne
• Juice Pharma Worldwide

Most Admired Agency

• AbelsonTaylor
• FCB Health
• GSW

Brand Team of the Year

• CAHG for Sovaldi
• Centron for Osphena
• McCann Torre Lazur for Brilinta

Most Creative Agency

• AbelsonTaylor
• Area 23
• Dudnyk

Best Consumer Campaign

• AbelsonTaylor for Aczone
• FCB Health for Gilenya
• GSW for Type None

Best Interactive Patient Campaign

• The CementBloc for HappyFuel
• Concentric Health Experience for Genepeeks
• FCB Health for Gilenya

Best Interactive Physician Campaign

• The CementBloc for Giazo
• GSW for StoryofOne
• ICC Lowe Trio for Johnson's Baby

Best Medical Device Campaign

• Dudnyk for Sjogren's syndrome
• HCB Health for Alcon Ex-Press
• Intouch Solutions for PillCam

Best Nonbranded Campaign

• AbelsonTaylor for Teva Oncology
• Area 23 for EMPA Vacuum Cleaner
• McCann RCW for BI Chokehold

Best Philanthropic Campaign

• Area 23 for Movember
• McCann Torre Lazur for "I Have Ovarian Cancer"
• Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness for AHA Warrior

Best Professional Campaign

• The CementBloc for Giazo
• GSW for Humulin R U-500
• GSW for Relistor

Best Self-Promotional Campaign

• Dudnyk for "Creative that Sticks/Nothing Is Out of Reach"
• GSW for "We Speak People"
• HCB Health for Ironic T-Shirts

The awards ceremony will conclude with the Best Video Submission of the Year winner, which will be voted on via text messaging, Twitter and online by the Manny Award attendees.

Med Ad News congratulates Industry Person of the Year Charlene Prounis and all award nominees.

The 25th Anniversary Manny Awards celebration on Thursday, April 24, 2014, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York, N.Y., will begin with a cocktail hour at 6:30 p.m., followed by a sit-down dinner at 7:30 p.m., and will conclude with a post-awards cocktail hour. The awards ceremony will commence at 8:30 p.m. The event is black tie.

2014 event sponsors include Platinum sponsors: Calcium, ICC Lowe, Intouch Solutions, and McCann Health; and Gold sponsors: The CementBloc, Concentric Health Experience, Dudnyk, and Fingerpaint.

For reservations, visit www.mannyawards.com or contact Joanna Siddiqui at Joanna.Siddiqui@medadnews.com

For sponsorship opportunities, contact:
Daniel Becker at (973) 507-6701 or Daniel.Becker@medadnews.com

Press inquiries, contact:
Joanna Siddiqui at (201) 966-8389 or Joanna.Siddiqui@medadnews.com

About the Manny Awards
For 25 years, the Med Ad News Manny Awards have paid tribute to the creative work of agencies serving the healthcare market, their people, and their contributions to the industry. Each year at this gala awards ceremony, Med Ad News and agency professionals come together to celebrate creative excellence in pharmaceutical and medical device advertising and to acknowledge those making significant contributions to healthcare communications. On this special evening, more than 600 industry peers are anticipated to join Med Ad News in honoring winners in a range of award categories.

About Med Ad News
The pharmaceutical industry's publication of record for more than 30 years, Med Ad News provides broad coverage and incisive analysis of the issues, events, trends, and strategies shaping pharmaceutical business, marketing, and sales. More than 30,000 readers -- comprising of corporate executives, marketing, sales, and product managers -- receive Med Ad News. Med Ad News is a publication of Outcomes LLC. For more info, visit www.medadnews.com

About Outcomes LLC
A marketing and media company built to quench the evolving consumption habits of B-to-B audiences, Outcomes LLC focuses on the needs of its customers to achieve both their short-term and long-term objectives, creating a healthy environment for individuals, organizations and the markets it serves, via industry respected media, leading events and content marketing services. For more info, visit www.outcomes-marketing.com.