Genzyme, a Sanofi company, has announced that it has been shortlisted for a Prix Galien award, in the Innovative Drug Award Category, for its multiple sclerosis therapy Lemtrada. A Prix Galien award is widely regarded as the highest distinction to be bestowed upon a pharmaceutical product. In recent years, the Prix Galien ‘stamp’ has become synonymous with new treatment options that add significant value to health systems and improve outcomes for patients.
The award nomination reinforces Lemtrada’s status as an innovative new therapy option for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The development of Lemtrada, led by UK scientists at Cambridge University with the support of Genzyme, demonstrates the high calibre of scientific ingenuity which is needed when developing additional treatment options for patients – and is a key characteristic of the UK’s world renowned research and development industry, which Genzyme is proud to support and be part of.
“The shortlisting of Lemtrada in the innovative drug category at these prestigious awards is testament to the pioneering research at Cambridge University and the collaboration with Genzyme to bring this new treatment option for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. For people living with multiple sclerosis Lemtrada could really reshape the management of their condition and demonstrates Genzyme’s focus on putting patients at the heart of everything we do,” comments Brendan Martin, general manager for Genzyme UK and Ireland.
The submission for Lemtrada for the Prix Galien award focused on the drug’s pivotal efficacy and safety data from the CARE-MS trials (Comparison of alemtuzumab and rebif efficacy in multiple sclerosis). The results of these trials were published in The Lancet.
“Having been involved with the clinical development of Lemtrada for more than 20 years, I am delighted that the innovative concept of lymphocyte depletion and reconstitution, and the evidence for efficacy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, are recognised by shortlisting for this important award. The research community in Cambridge is proud of our focus on improving outcomes for people with neurological disease through clinical application of pioneering basic science,” says Alastair Compston, professor of neurology and head of the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge.
The 2014 UK Prix Galien awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 1st October at the House of Commons, London, where the winners of the awards will be announced. The Rt. Hon. Sir Kevin Barron, MP – former chair of the Health Select Committee and chair of several all-party Parliamentary groups relating to the pharmaceutical industry and health – will be the Parliamentary sponsor for the awards this year. Genzyme has previously won a UK Prix Galien Gold Medal for Myozyme in 2006.
