Best Communication Award

sponsored by Consilium Strategic Communications

 
The 2023 shortlist:

C4X Discovery Holdings plc

Manchester-based C4X Discovery is a pioneering drug discovery company that uses proprietary technologies to design small-molecule drugs for the treatment of a variety of diseases, including cancer, inflammation, and neurodegeneration.

C4X is proactive in sharing achievements and milestones with the public and the scientific community. The group makes significant efforts to engage with stakeholders and investors, providing regular updates on its financial performance and progress towards achieving strategic goals. The group has participated in several industry conferences and events, showcasing its innovative technologies and drug discovery programmes.

C4X has executed a comprehensive communication programme in the past year, which was reflected in its performance in the investor communication benchmarking exercise. The Voting Panel observed that C4X’s clear strategy was efficiently communicated by the management team, building confidence in its portfolio position and business model. This was further reinforced by the communication of key management appointments, including that of Nick Ray as Chief Scientific Officer.

Convatec Group Plc

Convatec is a global medtech business that focuses on solutions for the management of chronic conditions, with leading market positions in advanced wound care, ostomy care, continence care and infusion care.

Convatec has a strong track record of consistent and transparent communication with all its stakeholders. The business was one of the highest performers in the benchmarking exercise due to regular demonstration of best practice, including a forward-looking strategy communicated in its annual report, an engaging website, which like the annual report, had a particularly strong sustainability/ESG section.

The Voting Panel noted that Convatec has significantly improved the clarity in its investor story, hosted a capital markets day in 2022 – the first in over five years – and commented on the accessibility of the management team, as well as regular use of social media.

Ergomed plc

Surrey-based Ergomed is a clinical research organisation that provides services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, including clinical trial management, pharmacovigilance, and medical writing. The group is a regular shortlister for the Best Communication Award.

Ergomed have a clear and transparent approach to communication with their stakeholders in addition to an exceptionally active and responsive IR team. During the period, Ergomed executed on its strategy to become a leading mid-tier CRO in the eyes of key stakeholders, including media, analysts and investors. This included the integration of ADAMAS, the development of the Board and Senior Management Team, in addition to its continued growth in both the CRO and PV businesses.

The group was highlighted in the benchmarking exercise as having unique attributes in its communication, including a section in its Annual Report demonstrating Ergomed’s commitment to values within its operations. The Voting Panel commented that the introduction of the group’s new Head of IR and Strategy and new CFO, Keith Byrne, resulted in much wider engagement with the city and initiations from banks.

Ion Beam Applications SA

Belgium-based Ion Beam Applications (IBA) is a world leader in particle accelerator technology. The group designs, produces and markets innovative solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other serious illnesses, and for industrial applications such as the sterilisation of medical devices.

During the period, IBA delivered a communications strategy to increase the understanding of the breadth of its business offering. The group had previously been associated primarily with Proton Therapy, however IBA has made a deliberate and strategic effort to make the diversity of its technology offering clearer across all its materials, including social media, press releases and presentations. As a result of this increased communication, understanding of IBA’s diversified business, technologies and investment case amongst investors and analysts has improved substantially.

The judges observed that IBA’s Annual Report did an effective job of communicating the change of strategy in addition to providing more granular information in the reporting of its Other Accelerators and Proton Therapy divisions. 

Sectra AB

Based in Sweden, Sectra offers solutions for medical IT and cybersecurity. The group helps hospitals all over the world improve their efficiency so they can ultimately provide better healthcare to patients.

Sectra takes a very proactive approach to its communication and maintains regular dialogue with stakeholders. The group performed highly in the benchmarking exercise due to its considered and effective approach to investor relations.

Sectra’s Annual report was observed to be forward-looking and included case studies of positive interactions the group has had with its stakeholders. The group’s website included a year in brief, making information very accessible for investors who require a snapshot, in addition to a ten-year summary documenting the company's financial history, both of which are unique and distinguishing features.

Uniphar plc

Dublin-based Uniphar is a global partner to pharma and medtech manufacturers, working to improve patient access to medicines in Europe and around the world. The group provides outsourced and specialised services to its clients. 

Uniphar is a well-known and strong communicator across all channels and has a responsive and engaging IR team. The group scored highly in the benchmarking exercise, particularly on usability in the Annual Report due to ease of navigation while consistently connecting users to related content. Uniphar was noted as having an engaging website that makes excellent use of pullout data, videos and vibrant imagery. The Voting Panel observed the clarity of Uniphar’s messaging and its strong presentation skills.

Breakthrough of the Year Award

sponsored by FTI Consulting

 
The 2023 shortlist:

argenx

Belgium-based argenx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for inflammatory diseases and cancer. The group partners with leading academic researchers through its Immunology Innovation Program (IIP) and aims to translate immunology breakthroughs into a world-class portfolio of novel antibody-based medicines.

Last year was a pivotal one for argenx. For the first time in the group’s history, it delivered a transformative therapy to patients with the potential to change how generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) is treated with the launch of VYVGART. argenx demonstrated its ability to execute commercially, generating over $400m in net sales globally in the first year of launch of VYVGART, which is the first-and-only approved neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) blocker in the US, Japan and the EU. argenx is now planning for a multi-dimensional expansion to reach more patients with VYVGART through additional regulatory approvals for gMG.

Calliditas Therapeutics AB

Calliditas Therapeutics is a commercial stage biopharma company, based in Sweden. The group is focused on identifying, developing and commercialising novel treatments in orphan indications, with an initial focus on renal and hepatic diseases. 

Calliditas has made remarkable progress in the past twelve months. In March this year, the group announced positive topline results from its global, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIIclinical trial, which investigated the effect of Nefecon versus placebo in patients with primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN),  a chronic kidney disorder. The trial met its primary endpoint, with Nefecon demonstrating a highly statistically significant benefit over placebo. 

In addition, in July 2022, the European Commission approved Kinpeygo® for adults with primary IgA nephropathy. Kinpeygo is an orphan medicinal product and is the first approved treatment for IgAN.

Destiny Pharma plc

Brighton-based Destiny Pharma is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel medicines to prevent life threatening infections. The group has two late-stage clinical programmes and an earlier preclinical pipeline.

In February this year, Destiny Pharma announced a collaboration and co-development agreement with Sebela Pharmaceuticals, a US pharma company specialising in gastroenterology, for the North American rights of its flagship asset, NTCD-M3. The drug was developed for the prevention of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) recurrence and the collaboration will allow Sebela to lead and finance its future clinical development and commercialisation in North America. 

In addition to this agreement, in February this year Destiny Pharma announced a fundraising of up to £8m to fund Phase III clinical trial preparation for NTCD-M3.

Kooth plc

London-based Kooth was founded to transform digital access to mental healthcare, at population-wide scale. The group offers rapid and responsive access to support without thresholds, stigma, or waiting lists, in a way that resonates with those in need of help.

In September last year, Kooth announced its first large-scale deployment in the State of Pennsylvania with a $3m pilot contract to supply its interactive mental health services to thirty school districts in the US state of Pennsylvania. Shortly afterwards, the group announced it had been selected by the California Department of Health Care Services to provide its service to every 13-25 year old in the State, in what is arguably the world’s largest and most ambitious digital mental health program. 

Pharming Group N.V.

Pharming Group is a global biopharmaceutical company, based in the Netherlands. The group is commercialising and developing an innovative portfolio of protein replacement therapies and precision medicines, including small molecules, biologics, and gene therapies that are in early to late-stage development.

In March this year, Pharming Group received US FDA approval for Joenja® (leniolisib) for the treatment of APDS (activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta (PI3Kδ) syndrome) in adults and adolescents aged 12 years and over.  APDS is a rare and progressive primary immunodeficiency and the approval of the drug is a key moment for the broader primary immunodeficiency community. Pharming’s breakthrough with Joenja® is transformative for the group, turning it into a two-product commercial company with the potential for expansion in multiple geographies.

Polarean Imaging plc

London-based Polarean is a medical imaging technology company operating in the high-resolution medical imaging space. The group aspires to revolutionise pulmonary medicine by bringing the power and safety of MRI to the respiratory healthcare community in need of new solutions to evaluate lung function and diagnose disease.

In December 2022 Polarean announced it had received US FDA approval for its drug device combination product, XENOVIEW. The drug is a hyperpolarized contrast agent indicated for use with magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) for evaluation of lung ventilation in adults and paediatric patients aged 12 years and older. XENOVIEW is administered in a single 10-15 second breath hold MRI procedure and can provide pulmonologists, surgeons, and respiratory specialists with regional maps of ventilation in their patients’ lungs to assist them in managing their disease. FDA approval of the asset represents a major milestone for Polarean’s technology.

Best Technology Award

sponsored by MC Services

 
The 2023 shortlist:

ANGLE plc 

Surrey-based ANGLE is a world-leading liquid biopsy company. The group’s proven patent-protected platforms include an epitope-independent circulating tumor cell (CTC) harvesting technology and a downstream analysis system for cost effective, highly multiplexed analysis of nucleic acids and proteins.

In May last year, ANGLE achieved a world first with FDA clearance for its Parsortix liquid biopsy system for its intended use with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. This ground-breaking FDA clearance is the first ever FDA product clearance to harvest cancer cells from a patient blood sample for subsequent analysis and offers the prospect of a new era of personalised cancer care.

Securing this clearance is the culmination of a sustained effort by ANGLE for over six years and should turbocharge all aspects of commercialisation of the Parsortix system. The FDA approval has since been followed by ANGLE's pivotal ovarian cancer study, delivering best in class results with sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 93% respectively.

Diaceutics plc 

Belfast-based Diaceutics is a data analytics and end-to-end services provider, enabled by DXRX - the world’s first Network solution for the development and commercialisation of precision medicine diagnostics. The group has worked on every precision medicine brought to market and provides services to 36 of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. 

Diaceutics operates at the intersection of healthcare, diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals, and its technology has evolved as the field of precision medicine advances. In January this year the group announced two enterprise-level, multi-disease data engagements, with two top ten global pharmaceutical companies. The combined contracts will deliver a cumulative value of $7m over a two-year period, demonstrating Diaceutics’ continued successful transition to a subscription-based model and further validating the group’s strategy and platform technology investments.

hVIVO plc 

London-based hVIVO (formerly Open Orphan plc) is a rapidly growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO) and the world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease vaccines and antivirals using human challenge clinical trials. The group provides end-to-end early clinical development services for its broad client base of global biopharma companies.

hVIVO has three decades of experience and expertise in safely conducting challenge studies across a range of respiratory viruses, including various strains of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human rhinovirus (HRV), COVID-19, asthma and malaria. The group made excellent operational progress during period, delivering seven challenge trials supported by expanded screening facilities and building a record contracted orderbook. In addition, hVIVO broadened and diversified its offering to include new human challenge models, as well as new laboratory and clinical services.

Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA

Based in Italy, Newron Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for patients with diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system.

During the period, Newron continued to further develop and market Xadago® (safinamide) for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The group has FDA approval for the product and is now planning a pivotal study with safinamide in Parkinson’s disease patients with levodopa-induced dyskinesia (PD LID). In addition, Newron is developing Evenamide as the potential first add-on therapy for the treatment of patients with positive symptoms of schizophrenia. In May this year, Newron presented substantial additional data from a phase II study evaluating evenamide as add-on therapy for patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS).

Oxford BioDynamics plc

Oxford Biodynamics (OBD) is a global biotechnology company developing and commercialising precision medicine tests for life-changing diseases. The group is based in Oxford and its portfolio of clinical tests and research tools is based on its EpiSwitch® technology.

In February this year, OBD announced the publication of compelling results involving its technology in the multi-disciplinary PROSTAGRAM study using blood to detect prostate cancer in an at-risk population. The resultant Prostate Screening EpiSwitch® (PSE) blood test, which combines the PSA component and the EpiSwitch classifier, demonstrated a remarkable 92%:94% positive:negative predictive value and an accuracy of 94%. As a rapid and minimally invasive test, the highly accurate PSE Blood Test has unprecedented potential as a screening diagnostic that can minimise unnecessary referrals to expensive and invasive procedures, making it a potential game changer in oncology.

Polarean Imaging plc

London-based Polarean is a medical imaging technology company operating in the high-resolution medical imaging space. The group aspires to revolutionise pulmonary medicine by bringing the power and safety of MRI to the respiratory healthcare community in need of new solutions to evaluate lung function and diagnose disease.

In December last year, Polarean’s Xenon MRI drug device combination product, XENOVIEW, was approved by the FDA. XENOVIEW provides pulmonologists, surgeons, and other respiratory specialists with regional maps of ventilation in patients’ lungs to assist them in managing their disease and enables the study of pulmonary function in ways that have not been possible with other lung imaging and diagnostic modalities. In addition to this, XENOVIEW expands the opportunity for pulmonary medicine to utilise the first and only inhaled MRI hyperpolarized contrast agent for novel visualization of lung ventilation without exposing patients to any ionizing radiation and its associated risks.

Sequana Medical NV

Belgium-based Sequana is a pioneer in treating drug-resistant fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. The group has two proprietary platforms, alfapump® and DSR® that work with the body to remove excess fluid, delivering major clinical and quality of life benefits for patients and reducing costs for healthcare systems.
Sequana made significant headway with its two lead platforms last year. In October 2022, the group reported positive top line results from a North American pivotal study of the alfapump® in patients with recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis, which will allow the group to file an application with the US FDA. Following this, Sequana reported positive top line data from its phase II study of DSR 1.0 in diuretic-resistant heart failure patients. The group is building on the successful clinical data published to make 2023 a pivotal year.

The Emerging Star Award

sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking

 
The 2023 shortlist:

Amphista Therapeutics Ltd

Cambridge-based Amphista Therapeutics is focused on transforming the lives of patients with severe diseases, including cancer. The group was founded by Advent Life Sciences and is a spin-out of TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee. Amphista has raised over $60m to date and is funded by leading life science investors.

Amphista is applying its proprietary Amphista degrader platform to advance new approaches in targeted protein degradation (TPD). The group aims to address the challenges faced by earlier stage TPD research and to realise the full therapeutic potential of this transformational approach. In May this year, Amphista announced the delivery of the first discovery milestone under its collaboration and license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb, exemplifying the strength of its Eclipsys TM platform and the group’s ambition to be a world-leading, next generation protein degradation company.

Artios Pharma Ltd

Cambridge-based Artios is a leading independent DNA Damage Response (DDR) company with a strong pipeline of novel cancer therapies in development with first and best in-class potential. The group has raised over $270m in equity financing since its creation in 2016 and has entered into strategic collaborations with Merck KGaA and Novartis with deal potentials in excess of $8bn.

Artios pioneered DDR drug discovery by co-inventing the blockbuster PARP inhibitor olaparib (now marketed as Lynparza® by AstaZeneca). The group have also led successful DDR programs at KuDOS Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology firm focused on oncology therapies that was acquired by AstraZeneca. Artios is now using its DDR discovery to build a world-class platform for developing novel inhibitors of specific DNA repair enzymes.

CDR-Life Inc.

Based in Zurich, CDR-Life is a biotherapeutics company developing novel therapies harnessing the power of the immune system. The group was founded in 2017 with a mission to develop a next generation of superior T cell engaging therapies against solid and liquid tumours.

CDR-Life has developed a technology to generate antibodies binding to tumour-specific peptides on MHC with very high specificity, which is based on more than twenty years in cutting-edge antibody fragment design, engineering and production. The group has developed the unique M-gager® technology to generate MHC-specific antibody-based T cell engagers that target highly tumour-specific intracellular antigens with unparalleled specificity. 

CDR-Life’s antibody fragment-based MHC T cell engager has the promise of developing new immunotherapies with high tumour cell killing potency, longer duration of effect and lower risk of immune-related adverse effects.

OMass Therapeutics Ltd

Oxford-based OMass Therapeutics is a biotech company that identifies medicines against highly validated target ecosystems. The group raised over $15m in total with Syncona and Oxford Science Enterprises as founding investors and last April completed the largest Series B ever  raised ($100m) by a UK small molecule biotech company.

During the period, OMass made significant progress in its portfolio development. This included the development of an insurmountable antagonist of the MC2 receptor for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, a gasdermin D inhibitor and GPR65 agonist for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, and two earlier-stage programs targeting solute carriers. As the programmes progresse, OMass will continue to add new products to its pipeline and explore strategic partnerships to fully exploit its unique platform. 

Quell Therapeutics Ltd 

London-based Quell Therapeutics is a leading engineered Treg cell therapy company. The group was founded in 2019 by leading Treg immunologists and pioneering Treg clinician scientists. In 2021 it raised $157m in a Series B fundraise  and is backed by an experienced top tier syndicate of investors.

Quell is developing therapeutics to treat a range of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases including preventing rejection in organ transplantation following the withdrawal of systemic immunosuppression. The group is leveraging its pioneering phenotype lock technology, unique multi-modular platform and integrated manufacturing capabilities to design and develop a pipeline of highly engineered Treg cell therapies with greater potential for persistence, potency and stability. 

Quell’s lead candidate, QEL-001, is being developed to induce operational tolerance following liver transplantation, with the potential to protect the post-transplant liver without the need for chronic immunosuppressive medications. 

Smart Reporting GmbH

Munich-based Smart Reporting has developed an innovative AI software that is rooted in a deep understanding of clinical workflows. The group’s ground-breaking medical documentation technology delivers high-quality data in real-time and on any scale. Smart Reporting was founded in 2014 as a university spin off.

Medical documentation makes up to 40% of a physician’s daily workload. To date, this has largely been a manual process, however Smart Reporting automates and streamlines this workflow and creates more valuable data in the process. The group’s technology has strategic importance for the digitalisation of healthcare, and makes the data collected usable for future diagnostics and medical research, ultimately improving the treatment of millions of patients.

In April 2023, Smart Reporting was granted €15 million from European Investment Bank to scale its AI-supported diagnostic clinical software. 

SNIPR Biome 

Copenhagen-based SNIPR Biome is a clinical-stage company developing precision medicines for vulnerable patients with difficult-to-treat conditions. The group is pioneering a novel use of CRISPR/Cas technology to better treat and prevent human diseases through precision killing or the genetic modification of bacteria.

SNIPR Biome uses its technology to selectively and precisely kill target bacteria, while leaving the rest of the microbial community intact and unharmed. The group utilises the natural bacterial CRISPR-based adaptive immune system in a programmable way and its technology has been used in collaborations with CARB-X, MD Anderson Cancer Center and Novo Nordisk.

SNIPR Biome is the first company to orally dose humans with a CRISPR therapeutic and the first company to have been granted a patent for the use of CRISPR for targeting microbiomes.

Synaffix BV 

Based in the Netherlands, Synaffix is a biotech company with a clinical-stage platform technology enabling best-in-class antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific antibodies and other targeted therapeutics under a technology out-licensing business model.

Synaffix has established a simple, yet powerful, clinical-stage platform technology enabling best-in-class ADCs, bispecific antibodies and the targeted delivery of various other therapeutic payloads, all without modifying the antibody sequence. Synaffix has consolidated all necessary technologies required for proprietary, best-in class ADCs as well as bispecific antibodies.

In 2023 alone, Synaffix signed a $2bn license agreement with Amgen (USA), a $2.2bn deal expansion with MacroGenics (USA), along with agreements with Hummingbird Biosciences (Singapore) and Chong Kun Dang Pharm (South Korea). This brings a total of 13 partnerships across the globe, with 22 ADCs now in development, built using Synaffix’s technology platform, and five programs already in clinical development.

Mediscience Media Commentator of the Year Award

sponsored by Powerscourt

 
The 2023 shortlist:

John Carroll/Endpoints

John is a biotech analyst and writer with decades of prize-winning experience in journalism. As co-founder of Endpoints News, John has covered biopharma for the past 15 years. In addition to daily industry coverage for FierceBiotech, where he was named editor in 2003, John has been a regular speaker at biotech events around the globe. He has been quoted by the likes of The New York Times, The New Yorker and the Financial Times and has keynoted at key biotech gatherings around the world.

John played a key part in the acquisition of Endpoints News by the Financial Times, which took place in April this year. The deal will allow Endpoints to reach even more subscribers, grow revenue, invest in its journalism and help the group enter its next phase of growth. John is a regular on the shortlist for Mediscience Media Commentator of the Year.

Jim Cornall/Labiotech

Jim is the Editor in Chief of Labiotech. He is an award-winning writer, editor, photographer and designer with more than 30 years’  experience in the media. Jim studied at various UK universities, before moving to Canada to start a career in radio. Following this, he became a magazine editor before working at a science organisation, managing communications and editing publications. Jim has edited books and written nine of his own.

Jim became Editor in Chief at Labiotech in May 2020. Labiotech is the leading online media for the biotech industry in Europe and was launched in 2014 by two biotech engineers in response to the lack of digital media covering the European biotechnology industry. Since then, and with Jim now at the helm, the platform has grown to become the most visited biotech website in Europe and a trusted source of information for many professionals.

Fierce Biotech Team

Fierce Biotech is the dominant B2B news brand for the industry. Readers rely on Fierce Biotech for the latest news, analysis and data on drugs and the companies that make them. 

The editorial team covers the biopharma waterfront, from drug development through the entire lifecycle — tracking regulatory approvals, payer negotiations, manufacturing, marketing, patent fights, government investigations and regulation, M&A deals and beyond. Fierce Biotech’s aim is to analyze the day's news, showing readers not only what they need to know, but why they need to know it.

Beyond the daily reporting, the team produces special reports that take stock of the industry's products and finances and shed new light on industry trends.

The team is comprised of Annalee Armstrong, Fierce Biotech Senior Editor, Gabrielle Masson, Fierce Biotech Staff Writer, Max Bayer, Fierce Biotech Staff Writer and James Waldron, Fierce Biotech UK Bureau Chief. 

Nuala Moran/BioWorld

Nuala is a freelance science journalist who has been reporting on the European biotech sector for BioWorld since 1996. She is a former Managing Editor of Nature and Innovation Editor of the Independent on Sunday. She was a regular contributor to the Financial Times from 1992 – 2007, and has written on science and technology for many other publications including The Economist, Nature Biotechnology and Nature Medicine. Nuala has received several awards recognising the quality of her reporting and insights, including the UK Technology Journalist of the Year and the Euroscience Science Writer award.

Nuala is a passionate advocate for the lifescience sector and is considered to be one of Europe's most experienced science and technology journalists. Nuala recently extended her remit to cover medtech and now provides extensive coverage of the scientific and commercial development of the biotechnology sector in Europe and the US.

Alex Ralph/The Times

Alex Ralph is chief business correspondent at The Times where he covers the life sciences sector, government relations with business, trade and the tobacco industry. Prior to his current role, Alex was Business Correspondent at the FT for over six years, and prior to that was Market Reporter. 

Alex was promoted to Chief Business Correspondent at The Times in 2022, which is testament to his ability to cover not only the obvious stories of the day, but also those equally important but less talked about developments, helping to raise awareness of the biopharma sector among mainstream audiences. His commentary is widely read and he is well respected in the sector. 

Melanie Senior 

Melanie covers the science and business of biopharma for Nature Biotechnology, Evaluate Pharma and Citeline. She also supports selected pharma, biotech and market access firms with news analysis and reports. After beginning her career at the Financial Times in London, Melanie became Bureau Chief, Europe, for Elsevier Business Intelligence. She worked as a reimbursement and pricing analyst for Real Endpoints in the US and was part of EY Life Sciences’ thought leadership team between 2014-2017.

Melanie is a long-standing and well-respected industry commentator. She is known for her specialist and feature coverage and consulting across market access, pricing, outcomes-based care, precision medicine, digital health, AI, R&D strategies and consumer empowerment for a range of clients in the biopharma and investment community.

Capital Market Transaction of the Year Award

sponsored by MEDISTRAVA Consulting

 
The 2023 shortlist:

Abivax SA

Paris-based Abivax is a phase III clinical-stage biotechnology company. The group leverages its immune enhancing and antiviral platforms to optimise and develop drug candidates to treat ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory diseases, as well as liver cancer. 

In February this year, Abivax announced the successful completion of an oversubscribed €130m cross-over financing with top-tier US and European biotech investors. The transaction was based on promising data from the group’s ongoing late-stage clinical development program with obefazimod in ulcerative colitis and will help further advance the pivotal Phase III clinical trial program. The transaction was the biggest financing round in France during the period.

BenevolentAI SA 

Headquartered in London, BenevolentAI’s mission is to harness the power of the vast and growing corpus of biomedical data and make it accessible and useful for scientific enquiry. The group has built an AI-enabled drug discovery engine, the Benevolent Platform™, to drive a revolution in drug discovery, from target identification through to clinical development.

In April 2022, BenevolentAI announced the completion of its Business Combination with Odyssey Acquisition. The net transaction proceeds totalled €390m, enabling Benevolent AI to continue investing in its innovative technology platform and consolidate its leadership position. Just days later, BenevolentAI listed on Euronext Amsterdam, raising €225m in gross proceeds, making this a landmark moment for the group that will take the business to the next level.

BioInvent International AB

Based in Sweden, BioInvent is a clinical-stage company that discovers and develops antibodies for cancer therapy. The group generates innovative immuno-oncology drug candidates through its validated, proprietary F.I.R.S.T™ technology platform.

In July 2022, BioInvent successfully carried out a directed share issue of SEK 300m during challenging market conditions, further strengthening the group’s already strong financial position. The share issue provided BioInvent with an even stronger base of institutional investors and enabled the group to deliver on its portfolio strategy with “multiple shots on goal”. BioInvent’s balance sheet was strengthened earlier in the year due to a €500,000 milestone payment from Hope Medicine following the enrolment of the first patient in a Phase II trial for the treatment of endometriosis in pre-menopausal women.

GSK plc

GSK is a global biopharma company based in Middlesex. The group aims to positively impact the health of 2.5bn people by the end of 2030. 

In July last year, GSK completed the demerger of the Consumer Healthcare business from GSK to form Haleon and its shares were admitted to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The demerger was an important milestone for GSK and represents the most significant corporate change for the group in the last 20 years. Haleon has been built through a series of progressive strategic M&A and divestment moves and creates a focused, global consumer healthcare business with an exceptional portfolio of brands. The transaction unlocks the potential of both GSK and Haleon and creates two new growth companies that will positively impact the health of billions of people.

Novozymes A/S

Novozymes is the world leader in biological solutions, based in Denmark. Together with its customers and partners the group improves industrial performance while preserving the planet's resources and helping build better lives.

In December 2022, Novozymes and Chr. Hansen entered into an agreement to create a leading global biosolutions partner through a statutory merger of the two companies. The combined company creates a strong biosolutions group with a broad biological toolbox and a diversified portfolio across markets, with annual revenues of approximately €3.5bn. Uniting two strategically complementary companies accelerates their already best-in-class performance and accelerates the drive towards a climate neutral society.

Valneva SE

Valneva is a specialty vaccine company, based in France. The group has leveraged its expertise and capabilities both to commercialise three vaccines and to rapidly advance a broad range of vaccine candidates into and through the clinic, including candidates against the chikungunya virus and Lyme disease.

In June last year, Valneva announced Pfizer had acquired a 8.1% share of the business for an equity investment of $95m. The investment by Pfizer, via a reserved capital increase, will further support the Lyme partnership between the two firms and Valneva will utilise the investment to back the Phase III development of the Lyme disease programme. In addition, Valneva will receive tiered royalty payments from Pfizer and up to $100m in milestone payments.

Most Significant Contribution to the Mediscience Sector Award

sponsored by SP Angel

 
The 2023 shortlist:

Dr Melanie Lee CBE/LifeArc

Dr Melanie Lee is one of the most respected female leaders in European healthcare with more than 30 years’ experience. Melanie is CEO of LifeArc, a self-funded, non-profit medical research organisation committed to investing £1.3bn by 2030 and accelerating healthcare innovation. Melanie is also a Board member at Sanofi. 

Melanie’s career began in academia, where she conducted post-doctoral research on yeast, initially at Imperial College London and then with Paul Nurse at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now Cancer Research UK). Paul was awarded a Nobel Prize for his research into the cell cycle, and cited Melanie’s work on finding a human homologue of the yeast gene cdc2. 

Melanie has built up a wealth of leadership experience across life sciences with executive leadership board roles and charities and has earned several accolades including a CBE for services to medical science and the BIA’s lifetime achievement award, one of only a few women to receive this honour. Melanie’s passion for science and making a difference to patients will be her legacy as she inspires the next generation of leaders. 

Anne Marden

Anne is a prominent health care investor and Olympian. She competed in three Olympics for the United States, winning silver medals in quad sculls in 1984 and in single sculls in 1988. Whilst training for those Olympics, Anne obtained a BA in Economics from Princeton and earned a MBA. from INSEAD. 

Anne is one of the longest serving portfolio managers at J P Morgan. She joined JPM in 1986 and has been involved in the life sciences industry throughout, first as a graduate trainee, then research analyst in the European pharmaceutical and healthcare space and then lead manager of the JP Morgan Global Healthcare Fund with assets under management of c£5bn.

Anne and the healthcare team at JP Morgan Asset Management live and breathe life science and healthcare businesses, attending medical conferences around the globe in order to meet cutting- edge companies in which to invest. Under Anne’s guidance, the JP Morgan Global Healthcare fund is up 143% over three years, compared to an average return of 110% for the wider equity pharma health and biotech sector.

In addition to her role at JPM, Anne joined the Board at the CFA UK in 2012. CFA UK is a global association of investment professionals, and Anne became Chair of the group in 2015.

Novo Nordisk Foundation

Based in Denmark, The Novo Nordisk Foundation is an independent foundation with corporate interests that supports scientific, humanitarian and social causes.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation aims to promote excellence in science and improve people's health and well-being. The foundation provides grants and funding for a wide range of initiatives, including biomedical and clinical research, healthcare innovation, education and training, and science communication. In 2021, the foundation distributed a total of DKK 8.8bn (US$1.18bn) and paid out DKK 4.8bn (US$0.65bn) in grants.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has made significant contributions to the advancement of medical research and healthcare in Denmark and the Nordic countries. The group has funded numerous research projects, established research centres and supported initiatives to strengthen  scientific collaboration and knowledge-sharing.  

Jane Osbourn OBE/Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd

Jane is Alchemab’s Chief Scientific Officer and oversees all aspects of the group’s drug discovery activities. Prior to joining Alchemab, Jane served as Vice President of R&D at MedImmune, the biologics arm of AstraZeneca, where she contributed to the development of antibody phage display technology, authored key publications and patents and contributed to the discovery and development of a number of marketed antibody therapies including HUMIRA® (adalimumab) and IMFINZI® (durvalumab).

Jane chairs the Cambridge-based cell therapy company Mogrify, has served as a Director of Babraham Bioscience Technologies, and Cambridge Enterprise, and is a member of the Crick Translational Advisory Group. Previously, Jane served as a Member of the UK Medical Research Council Industry Grant Award Assessment Panel, in addition to serving as Chair of the Board of Directors of the UK BioIndustry Association.

Jane has been involved in the development of several successful antibody-based therapeutics and has contributed to numerous scientific publications. She was awarded an OBE and Scrip’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 for services to drug discovery, development and biotechnology. 

Pascal Soriot/AstraZeneca plc

Pascal Soriot is a French-Lebanese business executive and has been the CEO of AstraZeneca since October 2012. Pascal has a wealth of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with a career spanning over three decades. Before joining AstraZeneca, he held various executive positions at Roche and prior to that, worked at other prominent pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi. He is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and holds an MBA from HEC, Paris.

Pascal brings a passion for science and medicine as well as significant experience in established and emerging markets, strength of strategic thinking, a successful track record of managing change and executing strategy, and the ability to lead a diverse organisation. Under his leadership, AstraZeneca has undergone significant transformation and achieved notable milestones in the pharmaceutical industry. Pascal has placed strong emphasis on innovation and collaboration to advance AstraZeneca's pipeline of drugs and has overseen numerous strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and licensing agreements to strengthen the group’s portfolio and expand its capabilities. 

Pascal is recognised for his strategic leadership, his focus on patient-centric innovation, and his commitment to global public health. Pascal received a British knighthood for services to UK life sciences and leadership in the global response to the COVID pandemic in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2022. 

UK BioIndustry Association (BIA)

Based in London, the BIA is the voice of the innovative life sciences and biotech industry, enabling and connecting the UK ecosystem so businesses can start, grow and deliver world-changing innovation.

The BIA promotes the UK's biotech sector as a global leader in innovation, research, and commercialisation of life science technologies. The group was established in 1989 and has since become a prominent organisation within the biotech community. The association provides networking opportunities, information sharing, and business support services to its members.

The BIA helps its members engage with policymakers, regulators, and stakeholders at both national and international levels, in addition to playing a crucial role in shaping policies and driving collaborations to foster growth and enhance the  competitiveness of the UK biotech industry. 

The panel cited the organisation’s excellent initiatives working with the government to resolve liquidity issues earlier this year.

Chief Executive of the Year Award

sponsored by Panmure Gordon

 
The 2023 shortlist:

Yamin Khan/hVIVO plc

Mo is CEO of hVIVO, a role he was appointed to in February 2022. He has over 25 years of global clinical research experience across clinical operations, project management, business development and executive management functions. Mo held a number of senior roles at Pharm-Olam International and prior to this worked at Innovex and Quintiles CRO (IQVIA).

Mo’s invaluable experience and knowledge of the CRO industry has significantly impacted hVIVO. Under Mo’s leadership the group has focused on developing a substantial orderbook of signed contracts to provide greater visibility and robustness to trading, resulting in a record orderbook of £76m, a sixfold growth since 2019. 

In addition, Mo has implemented the concurrent running of multiple challenge studies as well as a flexible booking model with quarterly slot assignments, which has provided greater adaptability and maintained higher levels of occupancy at its quarantine clinics. The result of this has been a substantial 30% increase in revenue to a record £50.6m in 2022, record EBITDA profit margins of 17% ahead of expectations and record cash of £28.4m.

Gunilla Osswald/Bioarctic AB

Gunilla has been CEO of Bioartic since 2014. She has over 30 years’ experience in drug development and held leading positions at AstraZeneca between 1985-2013, including the position of Vice President with the responsibility of the product portfolio in neurodegenerative diseases. 

During her tenure, Gunilla has played a crucial role in leading Bioarctic’s growth and development. Under her leadership, the group has advanced its pipeline of drug candidates and entered into strategic collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies to further the development and commercialisation of its products, which includes BAN2401, an antibody-based therapy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Gunilla has contributed significantly to the field of neuroscience and the development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Her leadership and expertise have been instrumental in advancing BioArctic's mission of improving the lives of patients suffering from debilitating neurological conditions.

Miroslav Reljanovic/Ergomed plc

Miroslav founded Ergomed in 1997 and served as the company's CEO until 2020. He is currently Executive Chairman of the group. Miroslav is a medical doctor and a board-certified neurologist, in addition to being a notable figure in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

Miroslav’s background as a physician and his deep understanding of clinical research have been instrumental in shaping Ergomed's approach to drug development. He has been actively involved in the design and implementation of clinical trials and contributed to the advancement of numerous drug candidates across various therapeutic areas. Under Miroslav’s leadership, Ergomed has grown into a prominent player in the CRO space. 

Beyond Ergomed, Miroslav is known for his contributions to the biotechnology sector. He has served as a board member and advisor to several companies in the life sciences industry and his expertise and leadership have made him a respected figure in the field.

Adam Steensberg/Zealand Pharma A/S

Adam became CEO of Zealand Pharma in March 2022. Prior to this Adam held numerous senior roles at Zealand Pharma, including, most recently, Chief Medical Officer, EVP, Head of Research and Development.  Adam is a certified medical doctor and has published more than 45 peer-reviewed scientific papers in renowned international journals. Prior to joining Zealand, Adam led clinical research teams as medical director at Novo Nordisk.

Adam was appointed as CEO of Zealand Pharma as part of a corporate re-structure. Under Adam’s guidance the group has re-focused its strategy and has leveraged its peptide platform by prioritising investment in its research and development pipeline programs, in addition to streamlining its commercial operations. The revised strategy, implemented by Adam, has resulted in positive results, released this month, from a phase II study with the group’s obesity treatment candidate from its Boehringer Ingelheim collaboration.

David Veitch/Basilea Pharmaceutica AG

David has been CEO of Basilea since 2018. He joined the group in 2014 as Chief Commercial Officer and prior to this served as the president of European operations at Savient Pharmaceuticals. David has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has a strong track-record in leading national and international cross-functional pharmaceutical organisations.

During his tenure at Basilea, David led the successful launch of the group’s two novel hospital anti-infectives, the antifungal Cresemba and the antibiotic Zevtera. He built effective organisations and capabilities at both the country and headquarter levels in order to successfully commercialise both products in key European markets. In addition, David led the implementation of Basilea's various partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies around the world in order to maximize the global commercial potential of Cresemba and Zevtera. David has demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial drive during his career and proven his ability in leadership, strategy and execution.

Sijmen de Vries/Pharming Group N.V.

Sijmen has been CEO of Pharming Group since 2008, while also serving as  Chief Financial Officer for an interim period in 2020. Prior to joining Pharming, Sijmen was CEO of 4-Antibody and Morphochem AG. He has also held senior business and commercial positions at Novartis, Novartis Ophthalmics and at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals.

Sijmen led the successful, global commercialisation of RUCONEST®, which was discovered and developed by Pharming and has achieved EMA and FDA approval. Under Sijmen’s leadership, both RUCONEST® and Pharming have achieved profitability. In addition, Sijmen guided the group through its FDA approval of Joenja®, making it Pharming’s second, approved commercial product for rare diseases.  

With the FDA approval of Joenja, as well as an ongoing EMA review process and an agreed regulatory pathway to the Japanese market, Pharming is transforming its commercial portfolio and taking further steps towards becoming a sustainable rare disease company. 

Company of the Year Award

sponsored by WG Partners

 
The 2023 shortlist:

argenx

Belgium-based argenx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for inflammatory diseases and cancer. The group has been shortlisted for two awards at this year’s European Mediscience Awards. 

Last year was a pivotal year of growth for argenx. After being granted US FDA approval for VYVGART, for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in adult patients, argenx's first approved product, the group had the ambitious task of launching VYVGART globally. argenx fully demonstrated its ability to execute commercially, generating over $400m in net sales globally in the first year of launch of VYVGART, which is now the first-and-only approved neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) blocker in the US, Japan and the EU. 

argenx is now preparing to bring another first-in-class treatment option to the gMG community with the expected launch of its subcutaneous formulation of efgartigimod, anticipated in June 2023. 

Ergomed plc 

Ergomed is focused on providing specialised services to the pharmaceutical industry and has two key complementary business areas: CRO (Ergomed Clinical Research) and pharmacovigilance services (PrimeVigilance). The group has been shortlisted for three awards at this year’s European Mediscience Awards. 

Ergomed carried out a number of key strategic developments during the period, demonstrating the successful execution of the group’s strategy. Highlights include strengthening its footprint in Europe, becoming the second largest pharmaceutical market globally and establishing five new legal entities in France, Italy, Romania, Ireland and Portugal. Ergomed continued to improve upon its Rare Disease Innovation Centre, leveraging Medidata’s Patient Cloud and Intelligent Trials technologies in May 2022 to overcome barriers in rare disease drug development and bring effective therapies to market more quickly. 

Ergomed’s most recent financial results in March 2023, showcased its strong financial position, demonstrating sustained growth in line with ambitious analyst expectations. 

Formycon AG

Germany-based Formycon is a world-leading, independent developer of high-quality biosimilars. The group focuses on treatments in ophthalmology, immunology and on other key chronic diseases, covering the entire value chain from technical development to the clinical phase III as well as the preparation of dossiers for marketing approval. 

Formycon had a significant year for two primary reasons. Firstly, the group’s transaction with ATHOS in May 2022 meant it was able to buy back 50% of its lead candidate, FYB201 and 100% of FYB202. The step up of ownership interest in these two projects significantly increases Formycon’s share of current and future sales proceeds from both products.

Secondly, in August 2022, Formycon received successful regulatory approval of FYB201, marking an important milestone for the group. After receiving approval from the MHRA, the US FDA and the EU, Formycon launched the product with its commercialisation partners. Sales of the product have been robust and have subsequently delivered a significant increase in market share.

hVIVO plc

hVIVO plc is a rapidly growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO) and world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease products using human challenge clinical trials. The group has been nominated for three awards at this year’s European Mediscience Awards. 

2022 marked a transformative year for hVIVO, as the group achieved record financial and operational performance, providing strong validation of its sustainable growth model. hVIVO focused on developing a substantial orderbook of signed contracts to provide greater visibility and robustness to trading, which resulted in a record orderbook. 

In addition, the group achieved a positive impact from efficiency initiatives, including concurrent running of multiple challenge trials, a flexible booking model, and a re-vamped FluCamp platform, the result of which delivered a substantial 30% increase in revenue to a record £50.6m, in addition to EBITDA increasing threefold to £9.1m.

Novo Nordisk A/S

Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. The group’s purpose is to drive change to defeat diabetes and other serious chronic diseases such as obesity and rare blood and endocrine disorders.

Novo Nordisk is growing to be one of the most valuable public companies globally, ahead of the likes of Pfizer, Coca Cola and Bank of America. Demand for its injectable drug candidate, Wegovy, used to treat obesity, has been so high since its approval in June 2021, it has almost exceeded supply. Sales of Wegovy reached $913m last year and climbed to $666m in the first quarter of this year alone. In March this year, Novo Nordisk announced it was working on a UK launch for Wegovy. 

In April 2023, Novo Nordisk’s outlook was raised with sales and operating profit growth now expected to be 24-30% and 28-34%, respectively. 

Pharming Group N.V.

Pharming Group is a global biopharmaceutical company, based in the Netherlands. The group is commercialising and developing an innovative portfolio of protein replacement therapies and precision medicines. It has been shortlisted for three awards as this year’s European Mediscience Awards.

Pharming Group continued to deliver growth in a competitive HAE market and enjoyed some significant milestones during the period. The commercialisation of RUCONEST®, licensed from Novartis for $20m in 2019, demonstrated the group’s shrewd business development and added to its clinical and regulatory credentials. In addition, Pharming’s breakthrough with Joenja® was transformative and established the group as a two-product commercial company with the potential for expansion in multiple geographies.

Pharming’s total revenues for the first quarter of 2023 decreased by 9% to $42.5m compared to $46.6m in the first quarter of 2022 due to temporary disruptions in reimbursement for some government patients, which impacted the overall HAE market.