The Galien Foundation Celebrates Biomedical Innovation in Fourth Galien Forum

NEW YORK, July 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --  UPDATED -- The Galien Foundation announced the formal program of presenters and panels for its Fourth Galien Forum, scheduled for Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at the Alexandria Life Sciences Center in New York City.  The Galien Forum, conducted in conjunction with the prestigious Prix Galien Awards, features roundtable debates focusing on critical, global healthcare issues and challenges.  This year's program includes a panel of current industry CEOs tackling the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the biopharmaceutical industry: Ken Frazier (Merck), Alex Gorsky (Johnson & Johnson) and John Lechleiter, Ph.D. (Eli Lilly & Company), moderated by P. Roy Vagelos, M.D. (Chairman of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and retired Chairman and CEO at Merck).

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The Keynote Session will be offered by the renowned Bert Vogelstein, M.D., Professor of Oncology and Pathology, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Director, Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics & Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Long recognized as a "giant of science…whose work has been most influential over the past 20 years," according to The Guardian, Dr. Vogelstein explores the genetic causes of cancer.

Joel S. Marcus, Chairman, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and Neil de Crescenzo, General Manager, Oracle Health Sciences, both long-time supporters of the Galien Foundation mission, will welcome participants.

"In our Fourth Galien Forum, we are again so honored to have attracted biopharmaceutical leaders, researchers, clinicians and health policy experts at the very top of their fields to contribute their expertise and wisdom to our program," commented Bruno Cohen, Galien Foundation Chairman.  "These annual dialogues continue to demonstrate that it is only through coming together for conversations and working collaboratively that we will be able to address the challenging global healthcare issues facing scientific, medical and technological innovation."

This year, The Galien Forum explores the need for and challenges facing enhanced industry-academia interactions in a panel including:

• Christopher P. Austin, M.D., Director, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences,  National Institutes of Health
• Michael S. Brown, M.D., The W.A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research, Regental Professor, and Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Robert M. Califf, M.D., Vice Chancellor for Clinical and Translational Medicine, Director of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute (DTMI), and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology Duke University
• John Thomas Potts, Jr., M.D., Distinguished Jackson Professor of Clinical Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
• Michael Rosenblatt, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Merck, who will serve as panel moderator.

The Galien Foundation also disclosed today that nomination submissions for the 2013 Prix Galien USA Awards actively continue, with final candidates to be announced shortly.  The Prix Galien Awards represent the highest accolade for research and development – the biomedical industry's equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

"The focus of biomedical innovation must be major improvement in the patient's welfare: prolongation of life, less need for hospitalization, quality of life, ability to continue normal life activities," commented Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, Chairman of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merck and chair of the Prix Galien USA Awards Committee.  "Interdisciplinary collaborations starting with target identification, product discovery and candidate selection, clinical characterization and product launch all pull together the full strengths of the industry to improve outcomes for patients.  Real success is improved patient health and ultimately decreased health care costs."

About the Galien Foundation and the Prix Galien Awards

The Galien Foundation fosters, recognizes and rewards excellence in scientific innovation to improve the state of human health. Our vision is to be the catalyst for the development of the next generation of innovative treatment and technologies that will impact human health and save lives.

The Foundation oversees and directs activities in the USA for the Prix Galien, an international award that recognizes outstanding achievements in improving the human condition through the development of innovative therapies. The Prix Galien was created in 1970 in honor of Galen, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Worldwide, the Prix Galien is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research.

For more information visit www.galienfoundation.org.

Galien Foundation Media Contact: 
Jon Florio
Makovsky
[email protected] 
212-508-9667

SOURCE Galien Foundation