NOVARTIS WINS PHARMACEUTICAL PRIZE

October 7, 2008 — Novartis Oncology has been awarded the 2009 Prix Galien USA for Best Pharmaceutical Product for its innovative drug imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, Glivec). The award, considered to be the industry's highest accolade for pharmaceutical research and development, is often considered to be the Nobel Prize of the pharmaceutical industry.

"It is a great honor for Gleevec to be the winner of such a significant award," said David Epstein, CEO and president of Novartis Oncology, in a statement. "Before Gleevec, oncologists dreamed of targeted, precise therapies but few believed them possible. Now, nearly a decade since its first approval, Gleevec has more than fulfilled its promise — triggering an intensive search for targets in other serious diseases and stimulating the development of new targeted therapies."

Imatinib won the International Prix Galien in 2002.

The award was created in France in 1970 by French pharmacist Roland Mehl as a means of recognizing and promoting significant advances in pharmaceutical research. Since that time, it has expanded to other countries, and was introduced in the United States in 2007. This year's Prix Galien USA winners were selected from 21 candidates.

Imatinib has been marketed since 2001, when it received accelerated regulatory approval in the United States for Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. It has since been approved for 8 other indications, including KIT (CD117)-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

This is not the first time that imatinib has been honored. Earlier this year, as reported by Medscape Oncology, researchers Brian Druker, MD, Nicholas Lydon, PhD, and Charles Sawyers, MD, shared the prestigious Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for their work in developing this new class of drug.

In addition, a number of prizes have been awarded for research related to the discovery and preclinical work on imatinib. These include the Bruce F. Cain Award from the American Association for Cancer Research and the Warren Alpert Foundation Scientific Prize, awarded by Harvard Medical School.

In 2007, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc, received the Belleau-Nickerson Award for imatinib, which recognizes the therapeutic, social, and economic contribution of a drug product marketed in the past 10 years. Novartis Pharmaceutics Canada Inc also won the Prix Galien Canada Most Innovative Product Award in 2002.

Another Oncology Winner

The Prix Galien USA is now awarded in 3 categories that offer broad implications for future biomedical research: best pharmaceutical agent, best biotechnology product, and best medical device. The award committee, with its 11 members, is comprised of 7 Nobel Laureates, founders of major biotech companies, and editors of world-renowned biology journals.

In addition to imatinib, another oncology product took home an award. The CellSearch Circulating Tumor Cell (CTC) Test from Veridex took home the award for Best Medical Technology. The CellSearch System is the first diagnostic test to automate the capture and detection of CTCs, as well as using CTCs to determine the prognosis and overall survival of patients with metastatic breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer at any time during the course of treatment.

"Nominees for the Prix Galien USA stand apart from other drugs and technologies in the marketplace for the amount of research and level of skill that was invested in the development of these products that improve lives," said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Prix Galien USA committee chair, NYU School of Medicine research professor of medicine, director of the Biotechnology Study Center, and editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal, in a release.