Pharmaceutical industry achievements across the board were celebrated in style last night at the 7^th Annual Scrip Awards at London's Grosvenor House.  Scrip Intelligence - the leading news, data and analysis service for the global pharmaceutical industry - organised the gathering as around 500 industry leading lights donned black tie and attended the glittering gala to pay tribute to their peers at the industry's most prestigious and hotly contested awards event.

This year's awards ceremony was hosted by broadcaster and political commentator the Right Honourable Michael Portillo, honoured excellence over the whole range of business activities of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and contract research organisation (CRO) industries.

"The Scrip Awards 2011 celebrate the achievements of pharma and biotech in what has been another challenging year for our industry," says Mike Ward, Editor of Scrip Intelligence.  "However, hard times do foster innovation, and tonight celebrates those triumphs - with awards for deals forged, drugs developed and leadership displayed by the best and brightest in global pharma."

Novartis was the night's big winner, cementing a solid year for the firm, with three awards, while Indian company Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and CRO PPD took home two trophies each. But the biggest prize of the night, for Lifetime Achievement, went to biotech guru G Steven Burrill.

In 1994, Mr Burrill founded Burrill & Company, a life sciences merchant bank focused exclusively on companies involved in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, devices, human healthcare and related medical technologies, nutraceuticals and wellness, as well as agricultural and industrial biotechnology. He has also been the cornerstone author of the highly respected annual review of global biotech.

Mr Burrill has been an active advisor and catalyst in some of the industry's most notable companies and transactions, as well as helping governments throughout the world shape their bioindustrial policies. With his close involvement and respected position within the industry, he has established a reputation as a prominent deal-maker and facilitator of industry partnerships and alliances.

"Steve Burrill has played a pivotal role in the development of biotechnology not only as an industry on its own but also its acceptance in the past two decades by the pharma industry as a cornerstone technology. He has not only provided key analyses but has shaped the industry globally," said Mike Ward, who presented the award to Mr Burrill.

Novartis triumphed in some of the night's biggest categories: Pharma Company of the Year (sponsored by ICON), Best New Drug (sponsored by INC Research) and Executive of the Year for CEO Joe Jimenez.

Overall of Novartis, the judges said: "The various actions in completing the Alcon acquisition, some important new products launched and the continuing innovative research programme make this a year of 'advance on all fronts'."

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals' two awards were for Best Company in an Emerging Market and Best Overall Pipeline.

Glenmark was described by the judges as "a company to reckon with in the near future". Glenmark has been building its pipeline of innovative products to make it a leader among the emerging markets in the drug discovery and development area.

The third company award, for Biotech Company of the Year (sponsored by PRA), went to Galapagos. This Belgian firm achieved its second year of sustained profitability in 2010, while progressing one of the largest pipelines in biotechnology.

This year's Management Team of the Year (sponsored by Talentmark) was deemed by the judges to be Zealand Pharma's senior management team. Under the leadership of CEO Dr David Solomon, this team took the company public, leading a successful €50 million IPO in November last year. This was the largest biotechnology IPO in Europe since the beginning of 2010, and the process relied fully on all parts of Zealand's management team and board, including supporting functions such as HR, finance and IT.
The Best Partnership Alliance Award went to the AstraZeneca, Agendia and The Netherlands Cancer Institute's Colorectal Cancer Collaboration. This three-way collaboration between a major research-based pharmaceutical company, a innovative molecular diagnostics company, and a leading national cancer institute has the objective of accelerating the development of targeted therapies for colorectal cancer by segmenting colorectal cancer at the molecular level.

"A key feature of the deal is that personalised diagnostics may be developed far earlier in the development process for new drugs than has been possible to date," says Ward.

"This is a model of how bio/pharma and academia can work in new paradigms involving a biotech and a pharma and a major academic research centre," the judges said. "This has the potential to pioneer new understanding of colorectal cancer and result in new diagnostics to understand a personalised approach to the treatment of this disease that does not now exist."

Another special award of the evening was for Corporate Social Responsibility. The pharma and biotech industry's activities in the area of corporate social responsibility are wide-ranging and for many companies form an integral part of their strategy and operations. Corporate social responsibility gives the industry an opportunity to make a difference beyond their core businesses, often in some of the poorest parts of the world.

This year, the trophy was awarded to Abbott and the Abbott Fund Partnership to Strengthen the National Health System in Tanzania.  This unique public-private partnership formed in 2001 with the government of Tanzania has helped revitalise the country's health system and address critical needs in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Working closely together, they have modernised Tanzania's infrastructure, strengthened hospital management systems, trained healthcare workers, and expanded access to high-quality testing, treatment and care for HIV across the country.

The award was presented by Camila Batmanghelidjh, the founder of Kids Company, Scrip's chosen charity for the Awards event. Kids Company provides practical, emotional and educational support to 14,000 vulnerable inner-city children in London.

"Again this year, the high calibre and number of entries clearly demonstrates the remarkable work that the pharmaceutical and biotech industries do towards the advancement of science and the improvement of healthcare worldwide," says Ward.

"We offer our most sincere thanks to all our entrants, sponsors and the attendees of the 2011 Scrip Awards as well as our hearty congratulations to each and every one of this year's winners.  Their hard work, dedication and achievements are a credit to our industry."

Scrip Awards 2011 - The Winners
 

Best Company in an Emerging Market	Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
Best Technological Development in Clinical Trials	PPD for REMS Technology Solution
Best Partnership Alliance	AstraZeneca, Agendia and The Netherlands Cancer Institute's Colorectal Cancer Collaboration
Corporate Social Responsibility	Abbott and the Abbott Fund Partnership to Strengthen the National Health System in Tanzania
Clinical Research Team of the Year	ICON for its Mega Trial Clinical Operations Team
Best Overall Pipeline	Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
Licensing Deal of the Year	Astellas Pharma and AVEO Pharmaceuticals for tivozanib
Outsourcing Deal of the Year	Sanofi's strategic R&D alliance with Covance
Executive of the Year	Joe Jimenez, Chief Executive Officer of Novartis
Biotech Company of the Year - sponsored by PRA	Galapagos
Best Contract Research Organisation	PPD
Management Team of the Year - sponsored by Talentmark	Zealand Pharma's Senior Management Team
Best New Drug - sponsored by INC Research	Novartis for Gilenya (fingolimod)
Pharma Company of the Year - sponsored by ICON	Novartis
Lifetime Achievement	G. Steven Burrill