2010 Prix Galien International Candidates Announced

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galien Foundation today announced the candidates for the 11th International Prix Galien, a global prize honoring extraordinary technical, scientific and clinical research accomplishments resulting in innovative medicines to advance the human condition:

• Humira® (adalimumab) from Abbott
• Soliris® (eculizumab) from Alexion
• Nplate® (romiplostim) from Amgen
• Xarelto® (rivaroxaban) from Bayer Schering Pharma
• Orencia® (abatacept) from Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Tysabri® (natalizumab) from Biogen Idec
• Revlimid® (lenalidomide) from Celgene
• Cervarix® (bivalent human papillomavirus) from GlaxoSmithKline
• Promacta®(eltrombopag) from GlaxoSmithKline
• Januvia® (sitagliptin) from Merck
• Isentress® (raltegravir) from Merck
• Exjade® (deferasirox) from Novartis
• Lucentis® (ranibizumab) from Novartis
• Selzentry® (maraviroc) from Pfizer
• Chantix® (varenicline) from Pfizer
• Procoralan® (ivabradine) from Servier
• Infuse® (rhBMP- 2) from Wyeth
• Orfadin® (nitisinone) from Swedish Orphan

This is the first time the International Prix Galien is being presented in the United States.

"The scientific accomplishments represented by the 18 candidates are truly remarkable," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Prix Galien USA Committee Chair, Research Professor of Medicine at New York University and Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal. "Each has already won a national Prix Galien, making the ultimate selection a reflection of the best of the best in scientific research, discovery and development."

The International Prix Galien Award is organized every second year. Candidates for the international prize have already been awarded a Prix Galien at a national awards event in the prior two years. The winner will be announced during a gala ceremony on September 28th at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  

"There can be no doubt about the impact of this year's International Prix Galien candidates," said Elie Wiesel, Prix Galien USA Committee Honorary Member. "They have improved, transformed and, in some cases, saved countless lives."

The International Prix Galien selection panel includes luminaries from across the research, discovery and patient care continuum with representation from each of the national organizing committees:

COMMITTEE PRESIDENT: Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Professor of Rheumatology and Director of Biotechnology Study Center, New York University School of Medicine.

COMMITTEE SECRETARY GENERAL: Florence Mehl.

BELGIUM: Prof. Yvette Michotte, Professor of Pharmacology, Vrije Universitet Brussel.

CANADA: Jacques Gagne, M.D., ex-Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Montreal, President of the Board of the Quebec Biotechnology Innovation Centre.

FRANCE: Prof. Charles Caulin, Honorary Head of department (Internal Medicine) at Hopital Lariboisiere, Emeritus Professor of Therapeutics at Paris VII University.

GERMANY: Prof. Erland Erdmann, Professor of Cardiology, Cologne University.

ITALY: Prof. Rodolfo Paoletti, Director of the Institute of Pharmacology Sciences, Milano University.

SPAIN: Dr. Josep Pique, Medical Head of the Clinic Hospital, Barcelona.

SWITZERLAND:  Prof. Richard Herrmann, Head, Oncology, Internal Medicine Department, University Hospital Basel.

THE NETHERLANDS: Pr. Dr. Henk Timmerman, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacochemistry, Free University, Amsterdam.

UNITED KINGDOM: Sir Michael Rawlins, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Chairman, National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

The Prix Galien is named after Galen of Pergamum (131-201 A.D.), who is considered the father of modern medicine and pharmacology. As an anatomist, physiologist, clinician and researcher, Galen's work formed the basis of a school of thought known as "Galenism" and has been considered a medical reference for over two millenniums.

"If Galen could return to live today, he would be very surprised to see that more than twenty centuries after he died, his name remains well known in the pharmaceutical arena and his memory honored by an award that is considered the pharmaceutical industry's equivalent of the Nobel Prize," said Florence Mehl, International Prix Galien Secretary General.

Support for the Prix Galien Awards is provided by: Oracle, DDB Healthcare, Deloitte, Alexandria Real Estate, Inventiv Health, DJE Science (a unit of Edelman), Kendle, City of Lyon, Saint Joseph's University and SAS.

The Prix Galien Award recognizes the technical, scientific and clinical research skills necessary to develop innovative medicines and devices such as these, and is considered the industry's highest accolade, equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Prix Galien was first established in 1970 by French pharmacist Roland Mehl and was inaugurated in the United States in September 2007. For details about the Prix Galien USA award and committee, visit www.galienfoundation.org.

SOURCE Prix Galien USA