SAN ANTONIO, Texas, April 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) will honor recipients of its
2009 Discoverers Award and 2009 Clinical Trial Exceptional Service Award
tonight at PhRMA's annual meeting in San Antonio, TX.
The awards will be presented to biopharmaceutical company scientists and other
researchers who helped discover, develop and advance Gardasil(r), a
breakthrough vaccine from Merck & Co., Inc. that can help prevent cervical
cancer. (See footnote for more detailed description.) Cancer vaccines
represent an emerging type of biological therapy.
With 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer and 250,000 deaths from it each year
worldwide, human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and the resulting cancers are
a major human health threat. HPV infection typically occurs in adolescent and
young adult women.
"The recipients of these awards should all be proud that they have played such
an incredible role in advancing healthcare here in America and around the
world. Millions of patients will live healthier, longer lives because of the
critical research that was done by these dedicated researchers," says PhRMA
President and CEO Billy Tauzin. "These extraordinary honorees certainly
deserve this recognition because they are the heroes behind a medicine that
helps patients prevent a life-threatening cancer before it can get started."
PhRMA's Discoverers Award recognizes scientists whose research and development
of medicines have greatly benefited mankind, and whose dedication to improving
the quality of patients' lives exemplifies the best among research-based
company scientists today.
Discoverers Award recipients are Merck's Eliav Barr, M.D., Vice President,
Oncology Clinical Research, who led the team that developed Gardasil's
clinical program; Merck's Barry Buckland, Ph.D., Vice President, Research,
Bioprocess R&D, whose department developed ways to safely manufacture large,
commercially viable amounts of the Gardasil vaccine; and Kathrin Jansen,
Ph.D. (currently at Wyeth), who established Merck's basic research program for
an HPV vaccine and played a central role in Gardasil's design.
"We are thrilled that the Merck scientists who worked on Gardasil are being
recognized with such a prestigious honor," says Richard T. Clark, Merck
Chairman, President and CEO. "We also congratulate the broader team whose hard
work, determination and focus on innovation were so critical to the discovery
and development of this vaccine."
"The talent, leadership and passion of these three scientists and the teams
that worked with them were pivotal in the successful development of Gardasil,"
says Peter S. Kim, Ph.D., President, Merck Research Laboratories. "Their
dedication is paying off by literally altering the course of human health
around the world. This is a shining example of how Merck is delivering on our
mission, and we are proud that PhRMA has recognized the outstanding work that
led us to this point."
This year's winners of PhRMA's Clinical Trial Exceptional Service Award are
Darron R. Brown, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at
Indiana University School of Medicine; Laura Koutsky, Ph.D., Professor of
Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington in Seattle;
and Susanne Krager Kjaer, M.D., Head of Department (Viruses, Hormones and
Cancer) at the Danish Cancer Society's Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in
Copenhagen, Denmark. This award will be presented to researchers who helped
make extraordinary advances in the clinical trials essential to the medicine's
development.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents
the country's leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies,
which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer,
healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA companies are leading the way in
the search for new cures. PhRMA members alone invested an estimated $50.3
billion in 2008 in discovering and developing new medicines. Industry-wide
research and investment reached a record $65.2 billion in 2008.
Footnote
Gardasil is approved for the prevention of cervical, vulvar and vaginal
cancers caused by HPV types 16 and 18; genital warts caused by HPV types 6 and
11; and precancerous or dysplastic lesions caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and
18 in girls and young women nine through 26 years of age.
PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org
For information on stories of hope and survival, visit:
http://sharingmiracles.com/
For information on how innovative medicines save lives, visit:
http://www.innovation.org
For information on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, visit:
http://www.pparx.org
For information on the dangers of imported drugs, visit:
http://www.buysafedrugs.info
SOURCE Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
Ken Johnson or Pamela Squires, +1-202-835-3460, both of the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America
