Bayer Announces 2014 Bayer Hemophilia Awards Program Winners

WHIPPANY, N.J., May 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer HealthCare announced today the 2014 recipients of the Bayer Hemophilia Awards Program (BHAP), a unique initiative dedicated to supporting innovative research and educational initiatives that benefit people with hemophilia around the world. American researchers and clinicians represented the largest group of winners from one country, with five individuals receiving awards. This year, the company awarded more than $2 million in funding to 14 recipients in five countries.

BHAP is the largest program of its kind in hemophilia, and, since 2002, has awarded more than 230 grants. To date, more than $28 million in funding has been awarded to researchers and caregivers from 30 countries, contributing to more than 400 publications, poster presentations and other scientific communications by awardees.

"BHAP, now in its twelfth year, continues to attract high-quality applicants who are committed to answering important scientific and medical questions. Through our support of their research, this year's winners will contribute to a better understanding of hemophilia and bleeding disorders and ways to improve treatment and optimize patient outcomes," said Prasad Mathew, MD, Vice President, Global Medical Affairs Hematology, Bayer HealthCare.

BHAP research funding is aimed at advancing treatment and discovering methods to alleviate disease burden. This year's projects include cutting-edge approaches for product replacement therapy and genomic editing to correct specific gene mutations, among others. This year's winners include:

• Brian Brown, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York
• Lacramioara Ivanciu, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Juan Melero-Martin, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
• Jordan Shavit, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• Suman Sood, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

"I'm truly honored to be a winner of one of Bayer's 2014 BHAP awards. Bayer's commitment and support will allow us to investigate the use of cutting-edge bioengineering techniques to help produce missing factor VIII in people with hemophilia," said Brian Brown, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  

BHAP awardees are selected by a global panel comprising distinguished clinicians, researchers, and caregivers in the hemophilia field. This year's award recipients were announced at the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) 2014 World Congress in Melbourne, Australia.

This year, awards were presented in the following categories: Special Projects, which provides support for a wide range of scientific research; Early Career Investigator, which provides salary support and research funds for junior faculty members who want to undertake mentored and/or basic research projects; Fellowship Project, which facilitates the development of specific clinical expertise for applicants who have completed medical training; and Caregiver, which recognizes the essential role of caregivers and allied health professionals in managing hemophilia.

To learn more about BHAP and other 2014 award winners, please visit www.bayer-hemophilia-awards.com/about_the_program/?view=past_awards.

About the Bayer Hemophilia Awards Program
The Bayer Hemophilia Awards Program (BHAP) supports basic and clinical research and education in hemophilia. Through grants provided to early career investigators, fellows in training and other hemophilia care professionals, the program seeks to support the next generation of care and treatment options for people with hemophilia worldwide. For more information about BHAP, please visit www.bayer-hemophilia-awards.com.

BAYER® and the Bayer Cross® are registered trademarks of Bayer.

Forward-looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

KN28000414

SOURCE Bayer Corporation