Med Ad News caught up with Fingerpaint Partner Bill McEllen; Colleen Carter, head of corporate marketing and business development at Fingerpaint; and Splice Co-Founder Paul Hagopian. The West Coast healthcare advertising agency Splice was acquired and will be fully integrated within the full-service health and wellness marketing firm Fingerpaint under the name Fingerpaint Bay Area. They talk about the acquisition and what it means to new employees and current clients.

FCB Health Network company AREA 23 swept the Cannes Lions health awards circuit, winning the rarely awarded Pharma Grand Prix alongside one Gold and one Bronze Lions for the agency’s ‘SICK BEATS’ innovation created for Woojer.

The FCB Health Network was crowned Healthcare Network of the Year at the 2021 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, with its AREA 23 taking the coveted Healthcare Agency of the Year award. 

GlaxoSmithKline will lay out plans to boost the spending power of the company’s research-focused pharmaceuticals business at an investor day on June 23, as analysts call on the British drugmaker to boost drug development prospects with takeovers or alliances.

AbelsonTaylor promoted former content strategist and copy supervisor Tarah Sperando to associate creative director. Sperando will oversee copy teams on assigned brands and projects, helping to implement novel creative solutions and develop new strategies for meeting client marketing goals. She will also participate in brand planning, market research, and new business development.

MicroMass, a leading full-service health communications agency, unveiled Human Dynamics, which is a game-changing approach to help pharmaceutical brands connect with patients and create a better experience.

Fingerpaint, a full-service health and wellness marketing firm with a global team of more than 580 people, acquired Splice, a healthcare communications business based in Emeryville, California.

Evoke KYNE, an award-winning health communications agency, announced the promotion of Carolyn Coyle to Executive Vice President. As a member of the Senior Management Team, Coyle continues to serve as a relationship manager for one of the firm’s largest client engagements in hematology, oncology and immunology. She also supports new business development efforts and leads the agency’s training and development program for entry level team members, reporting to Maureen Byrne.

FCB Health New York teamed up with broadcast journalist Ted Koppel and his wife, COPD activist Grace Anne Dorney Koppel, to help find the millions of people living with undiagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the crisis, leaving those with COPD particularly vulnerable, and the “COPD SOS” campaign urges diagnosis and vaccination.

PRECISIONscientia announced the Pennsylvania-based full-service medical communications agency is an honoree in the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2021 Best Places to Work Awards in the large company category. Voted by the people who know them best—its employees—the award celebrates the top companies in the Greater Philadelphia area. This marks the second consecutive year that PRECISIONscientia made the annual list.