Frost & Sullivan Confers European Biopharmaceuticals Company of the Year Award on Debiopharm Group™

LONDON, Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2010 Frost & Sullivan Europe Company of the Year Award in Biopharmaceuticals is presented to Debiopharm Group™ (Debiopharm).

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Debiopharm has a business model of in-licensing new molecules from biotech companies, pharmaceutical and start up companies as well as academic institutions based worldwide. It then adds value through a creative development strategy. Towards the end of the development process, it out-licenses the developed and registered drugs to pharmaceutical firms for worldwide commercialisation.

"The company specialises in the drug development process, successfully bringing novel biopharmaceuticals to market," notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Ranjith Gopinathan. "By independently funding the worldwide development of its products, Debiopharm is able to excel in drug development."

To date, Debiopharm has successfully developed five products. These include Eloxatin®/ Elplat® for the treatment of colorectal cancer, Decapeptyl®/Trelstar®/Pamorelin® of different formulations for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibromyomas, precocious puberty, female infertility (part of the in vitro fertilisation program), breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and Moapar®/Salvacyl® for the treatment of severe sexual deviations.

The lead products Decapeptyl®/Trelstar® and Eloxatin® are among the key products of its commercial partners. Debiopharm has built synergistic partnerships with a wide range of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and academic organisations including Ache, Aurigene, CAT, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Ferring, Ipsen, Kirin, LG Life Sciences, Nagoya-City University, NanoCarrier, Novartis, Pfizer, Pharmaleads, Ranbaxy, Rowfarma, Salix, Sanofi-Aventis, Sidus, TcLand, Tecnofarma, Tulane University, Yakult and Watson Pharmaceuticals.

Debiopharm has a good mix of pipeline products in various phases of clinical trials. Its key pipeline candidates are Debio 8206 for Hormone-dependent prostate cancer, which has successfully been submitted for approval and is now commercialized in many key markets, as well as Debio 025 (licensed to Novartis worldwide, except Japan) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Debio 0932 expected to be licensed for an oncology indication, both of which are at an advanced stage of clinical trials.

"By maximising the commercial potential of its partnered therapeutic products, Debiopharm is able to provide leadership to its partners and customers," remarks Gopinathan. "Moreover, it reinvests the commercial returns into the development of a new generation of products for its customers, underlining its commitment to continuous product innovation."

Each year, this Award is presented to the company that has excelled in the following criteria: growth strategy excellence, growth implementation excellence, degree of innovation with products and technologies and leadership in customer value.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Debiopharm Group

Debiopharm Group is a Swiss-based biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs. It was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The group in-licenses, develops and/or co-develops promising biological and small molecule drug candidates having reached clinical development phases I, II or III. Oncology is the group's main area of expertise. In addition, Debiopharm Group develops or co-develops drugs for specific indications, such as infectious diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, pain, metabolic diseases and immune-mediated diseases. Debiopharm, independently funds the worldwide development of all of its products, while providing expertise in pre-clinical and clinical trials, manufacturing, drug delivery and formulation, and regulatory affairs.

It has a team of 300 professionals from over 20 different countries. Moreover, Debiopharm is advised by a network of international consultants with scientific expertise in all relevant areas.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation, and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.awards.frost.com.

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan