LIVINGSTON NJ--(Marketwired - March 23, 2016) - Med Ad News, the leading pharmaceutical business and marketing publication, announces the nominees for the 27th Annual Manny Awards, celebrating the best in pharmaceutical and healthcare advertising, and announces Ed Mitzen as the Industry Person of the Year. The Manny Awards annual gala event celebrates creative excellence in healthcare advertising and communications. More than 600 industry peers are expected to join Med Ad News in honoring winners across 20 total award categories, including the year's Most Creative Agency, Most Admired Agency, Best Launch Campaign, Agency of the Year I, II and III, and more. The Manny Awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2016, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City.

The Manny Awards also continues its tradition of honoring the agency community 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.

Med Ad News introduced an additional level of review voting process in 2016, rolling out the MedAdvocate panel of jurors. The first round of voting took place online, via the Manny Awards voting site, and included selections from over 100 eligible voters across healthcare communication agencies. In order to take a deeper dive into the finalist campaigns, a panel of experts dubbed "MedAdvocates" were each assigned specific campaigns and tasked to initiate meaningful dialog amongst the jurors. MedAdvocates were selected based on their creative expertise and widely recognized performance within the industry. Ultimately, the team scored each finalist campaign using a point system that, combined with the popular vote conducted online, arrived at the eventual winners to be crowned on April 21, 2016.

Med Ad News is pleased to also recognize Ed Mitzen, Founder of Fingerpaint. Ed has successfully launched three different healthcare marketing companies totaling over $300 million in combined revenue. His current company, Fingerpaint, is a full-service marketing agency with 135 employees, three locations and nearly $30 million in annual revenue. Breaking from the typical ad agency paradigm, Ed launched this employee-owned company with the mantra, "no titles, no offices, no egos." The collaborative work culture has generated award-winning creative and explosive growth. In fact, Inc. magazine has ranked Fingerpaint on their List of America's 5,000 Fastest Growing Companies for the last three years.

Before forming Fingerpaint, Ed founded two other healthcare marketing firms: Palio Communications and CHS. With this vast experience in healthcare advertising, it's no surprise that he has been a key player in the marketing endeavors for more than 50 healthcare clients.

Ed is a firm believer in giving back. He is a frequent lecturer at several top colleges and universities and serves on the board of directors of many not-for-profit organizations, including The Hyde Collection, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce, and the Double H Ranch. He has even created a branch of Fingerpaint dedicated exclusively to philanthropic efforts.

It's hard not to notice Ed's impact on the healthcare industry. He is living proof that nice guys can finish first.

Voted by industry peers and the expert panel of MedAdvocates, along with the editors of Med Ad News, the 2016 Manny Awards nominees include:

Agency of the Year - Category I

• AbelsonTaylor
• Area 23
• Intouch Solutions

Agency of the Year - Category II

• Concentric Health Experience
• Juice Pharma Worldwide
• RevHealth

Agency of the Year - Category III

• Centron
• HCB Health
• McCann Managed Markets

Heart Award

• AbelsonTaylor, HCB Health and Juice Pharma
• Fingerpaint
• LehmanMillet

Vision Award

• Concentric Health Experience - Concentric Health Intelligence
• GSW - UCB Epilepsy
• Harrison and Star - MS App

Most Admired Agency

• Area 23
• FCB Health
• GSW

Best Launch Campaign

• Concentric Health Experience - Rexulti
• Corbett - Harvoni
• FCB Health - Entresto

Most Creative Agency

• Area 23
• FCB Health
• GSW

Best Consumer Campaign

• Area 23 - Cooties Catcher
• McCann HumanCare - Mucinex
• GSW - Pradaxa "Redfish"

Best Interactive Patient Campaign

• Area 23 - The Silent Era
• The Bloc - The Sneak
• CDMiConnect - Gout Is Serious

Best Interactive Physician Campaign

• Area 23 - N=You
• FCB Health - Claudia: 2 Sides of COPD
• GSW - UCB Epilepsy Empathy Project

Best Managed Markets Campaign

• The Bloc - Regeneron: Driving Member Activation
• Entrée Health New York - Victoza: Reconsider Costs
• McCann Managed Markets - Genentech Access Solutions

Best Medical Device Campaign

• AbelsonTaylor - Ultrashape
• Area 23 - Never Stop Improving
• DePirro/Garrone - Asante Snap

Best Nonbranded Campaign

• GSW - Still Waiting
• Intouch Solutions - You Don't Know Jack About MS
• McCann HumanCare - Keep It Pumping

Best Philanthropic Campaign

• Area 23 - The Hero Gene
• FCB Health - Blood Equality
• GSW - Sexy Men of Technology

Best Point-of-Care Campaign

• ContextMedia:Health - Exam Room Wallboard
• FCBCURE - Estrace: "Let's Talk"
• Juice Pharma Worldwide - Level With Me

Best Professional Campaign

• Area 23 - Alecensa "Go Beyond Barriers"
• McCann Healthcare - Pradaxa Evolution
• McCann Torre Lazur - Brillinta Social Proof

Best Self-Promotional Campaign

• GSW - The Speak People Experiment
• Klick - Muse
• Natrel - Every Brand Has a Soul

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 Ed Mitzen and all award nominees.

The 2016 Manny Awards celebration on Thursday, April 21, 2016, at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City 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.

2016 event sponsors include Platinum sponsors: McCann Health; and Gold sponsors: The Bloc, Calcium, Centron, Concentric Health Experience, Dudnyk, Guidemark Health and Intouch Solutions.

For reservations, visit www.mannyawards.com or contact Daniel Becker at Daniel.becker@medadnews.com.

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

About the Manny Awards

For more than 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 since 1982, 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 corporate executives, marketing, sales, and product managers - receive Med Ad News.Med Ad News is a publication of Outcomes LLC. For more info, visit http://www.medadnews.com

About Outcomes LLC

A marketing and media company built to quench the evolving consumption habits of B to B audiences, Outcomes supports the healthcare communications industry via industry leading brands Med Ad News, PharmaLive, leading events including the Manny Awards and content marketing services. For more info, visit www.outcomes-marketing.com.

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