AstraZeneca's Amie Baker wins Communiquétor 2015 award

AstraZeneca's Amie Baker has won the Communiqué Award for the 2015 Healthcare Communiquétor while the company also took home the award for best in-house team of the year.

Baker has worked at AstraZeneca since January 2007 and is currently head of corporate communications and reporting.

She has been one of the key architects, not just within AZ, but also within the broader industry via the ABPI, in the way the pharma industry has evolved and increased its transparency. 

Chris Brinsmead, CBE, life sciences business advisor to the UK and former president of AstraZeneca Pharma UK, said of Baker's win: “Amie is just one of those professionals who demonstrate absolute commitment.

“She is knowledgeable, passionate and focused on getting clear messages across to the appropriate audience. In addition, she is a delight to work with and nothing is ever an issue, she represents a 'can do' attitude.”

In-house triumph for AZ

AstraZeneca Group Corporate Affairs also won the Pegasus Award for In-House Team of the Year at last night's Communiqué Awards in London. 

The win is especially impressive as it cover's the team's work at a time when AstraZeneca was being aggressively pursued by rival pharma firm Pfizer, who last year attempted to buy the Anglo-Swedish firm for $118bn.

After several attempts Pfizer eventually failed to secure the deal, and AZ has now charted a staunchly independent path. 

AZ's chief executive Pascal Soriot said: “The performance of the Group Corporate Affairs team in 2014 was truly remarkable. They exceeded their objectives and played an important role in AstraZeneca's transformation. 

“The extraordinary events of 2014 called upon their skills in unprecedented ways and it was clear to me and to all of their colleagues across AstraZeneca that they were a team that was up to the challenge.” 

The Communiqué Award judges added: “This team really rose above the competition in terms of the calibre of the team and the work that they did. They faced a challenge that very few communicators have to deal with in their career and they really rose to it.

“As a judging panel, the words we used to describe them were awesome, they were outstanding and they were people we'd really love to work with.”

Run by PMLiVE publisher the PMGroup, the Communiqué programme is specifically designed to recognise and commend excellence and best practice in local, European and international healthcare communications.

• See the full results of the Communiqué Awards 2015