Prime Awards 2023 winners announced

Marketing & Strategy: The 19th annual PRIME Awards was celebrated on Thursday 9th November, recognising excellence in healthcare marketing and communications in the pharmaceutical and life science industry.

Hard work, creativity and innovation paid off for a record number of company finalists who walked the red carpet last night at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel.

Hosted by the talented Osher Gunsberg, the evening kicked off in great form, followed by an opening address by Elizabeth de Somer, CEO of Medicines Australia, on the current challenges in the pharmaceutical industry.

Health Industry Hub is the proud media partner once again for the PRIME Awards and looks forward to the opportunity of interviewing some of the winners.

Full list of winners

A special congratulations to the teams at AbbVie, AstraZeneca and Sanofi for winning more than one award.

Award 1: Sustained Excellence
Winner: Sustained lung cancer screening advocacy – Lung Foundation Australia, Ogilvy PR & AstraZeneca Judges’ Comments: “Amazing to see what can be achieved with consistency and relentless pursuit of what is right for patients.”

Highly commended (HC): Entyvio Pathway – Takeda, Vivacity Health & Ascott (IQVIA companies)

HC: MS Brain Health – Oxford Health Policy Forum CIC, Oxford PharmaGenesis Ltd & MS Australia

Award 2: Best Public Health Initiative
Winner: Eliminating HEPATITIS C: Getting back on track to meet the 2030 WHO target – AbbVie & DDB Remedy

Judges’ Comments: “Impressed with the well explained strategy that demonstrated clear thinking behind the strategic approach, along with the ability to leverage AI to find unmanaged Australian HCV patients and link them to care.”

HC: National Day of Venomous Bites and Stings – WE Communications HC: Sustained lung cancer screening advocacy – Lung Foundation Australia, Ogilvy PR & AstraZeneca

Award 3: Excellence in Patient or Customer Support
Winner: Detect – AstraZeneca

Judges’ Comments: “Highly effective for this chronic kidney disease screening program, that delivered significant benefits in identifying patients who may not have been detected until much later in the disease pathway.”

HC: Empowering the PNH community – creating an ecosystem of support around Empaveli – Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) & Atlantis Health

Award 4: Excellence in Education
Winner: The Rising Health Threat of Liver Disease – GP Education – Liver Foundation and ThinkGP

Judges’ Comments: “Outstanding project with clear results that exceeded targets, set up to help upskill and educate GPs in an area of medicine that is predicted to become the main reason for adult liver transplantation and liver cancer in Australia in the next 5-years.”

Award 5: Corporate Social Responsibility Award
Winner: Supporting Australia’s most vulnerable communities throughout global diabetes medication shortages – Eli Lilly Australia

Judges’ Comments: “The gold standard in acting on and tackling community issues so quickly and efficiently.”

Award 6: Best PR Campaign – Awareness and Advocacy
Winner: Raising awareness of influenza in Australia – Palin Communications & CSL Seqirus

Judges’ Comments: “An excellent campaign delivering strong, measurable results.”

HC: Sustained lung cancer screening advocacy – Lung Foundation Australia, Ogilvy PR & AstraZeneca

Award 7: Best PR Campaign – Commercial and Corporate
Winner: CAR T-cell therapy revolution in myeloma – Is Australia ready, willing and able? – Janssen ANZ, Myeloma Australia & Ethical Strategies

Judges’ Comments: “A strong coordinated campaign with excellent execution and media results.”

Award 8: Creativity in Communication – Consumer
Winner: When you can’t speak. We can. – MedicAlert & Ward6

Judges’ Comments: “Very thought provoking campaign based on deep patient insights, executed with strong simple messaging and supported by confronting images that cut through.”

Award 9: Creativity in Communication – HCP
Winner: Revealing a hidden killer: How Amgen elevated Osteoporosis screening to a priority for HCPs – DDB Remedy

Judges’ Comments: “Very strong use of research that uncovered the key insights of the target market, in addition to a very compelling and original creative approach in a category where it can feel like every campaign ‘has been done before.”

HC: Traffic light system signals interdisciplinary success for identifying and managing an adverse event – Sanofi & Scriptix

Award 10: Best Use of Data or Insights
Winner: Eliminating HEPATITIS C: How Artificial Intelligence helped AbbVie connect hard-to-reach patients to care – AbbVie & DDB Remedy

Judges’ Comments: “Innovating campaign that leveraged AI to find potential unmanaged HCV patients in Australia, and link them to care.”

Award 11: Marketing Innovation Award
Winner: Catch the Culprit – Sanofi Specialty Care & Alfie (Orchard Group)

Judges’ Comments: “Highly original and engaging execution of a virtual consultation room that will keep these conditions on the radar for HCPs to recall in the moments that a patient may one day need them to.”

Award 12: Launch of the Year
Winner: Forxiga CKD Launch – AstraZeneca

Judges’ Comments: “Very well executed launch that successfully focused on the communities for which the new medicine would have the greatest impact, working in partnership with the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians.”

Award 13: Marketing Campaign of the Year
Winner: ALLERTINE: Tough on you – A.Menarini

Judges’ Comments: “Seamlessly integrated campaign that resonated on an emotional level with the suffering patients experience.”

Award 14: NGO of the Year
Winner: Lung Foundation Australia

Judges’ Comments: “Impressed by such a thorough entry showcasing several levels and phases of activity.”

HC: Sony Foundation Australia

Award 15: GPs’ Choice: Pharmaceutical Company of the Year
Winner: AstraZeneca

GPs’ Comments: “The GPs of Australia voted for AstraZeneca as their winner for the high quality of their research, strong and trustworthy reps and because they decided not to profiteer from COVID-19.”

Award 16: Pharmacists’ Choice: Pharmaceutical Company of the Year
Winner: Arrotex Pharmaceuticals

Pharmacists’ Comments: “The Pharmacists’ of Australia voted for Arrotex for their increasing prescriber and pharmacy collaboration to improve patient outcomes and their best supporting representatives.”

Award 17: Best In-Field Customer Solution – Individual
Winner: Ourania Loannou – Sanofi

Judges’ Comments: “Clear objective, well executed plan and the strong collaboration resulting in over 180 pandemic affected respiratory HCPs receiving up to date, clinically robust respiratory evidence-based education.”

Award 18: Best In-Field Customer Solution – Team
Winner: Maha Hameed & Athin Sujeer – Sanofi

Judges’ Comments: “Well executed initiative with a good patient focus and team of MSLs collaborating and leveraging the clinical insights generated from a panel of leading national and international experts.”