CPHI selects 2023 Pharma Award winners

CPHI Barcelona announces the winners of the prestigious 2023 CPHI Pharma Awards. The awards recognise outstanding achievements and contributions from the global pharma industry and supply chain across 12 wide-ranging categories.

Enrico Zodio, CEO of Procos, stood out as the clear winner in one of the most coveted prizes – CEO of the Year – for spearheading the company’s impressive development and growth. Procos now turns over in excess of €200 million, having invested in capacity to further increase production, it is among an elite class of CDMOs globally.

In the API Development category, Snapdragon Chemistry (a Cambrex company) was selected as the winner for the development of an ultra-high temperature (>300 °C) continuous flow manufacturing process for racemization of sotorsib (LUMAKRASTM) P-dione. This innovative approach harnessing greener technology resulted in a 58% reduction of PMI (process mass intensity).

 Moving on to Finished Formulation, the judges selected Lubrizol Life Science Health for the development and launch of the first solubility-enhancing excipient to be specifically designed for parenteral use in over 20 years. Comprised of building blocks naturally occurring in the body, Apisolex is a poly(amino acid)-based excipient that provides formulators with methods to enhance the solubility of hydrophobic BCS Class II and IV APIs, by up to 50,000-fold.

A manufacturing platform, developed by Luminary Therapeutics, that aims to bring allogeneic cell therapies into the marketplace for under $10,000 was the stand-out entry in the Manufacturing Excellence category. Its Gamma Delta 2.0+ platform does not sacrifice function and will help open up patient access to these life changing therapies. 

Gasporox took the honours in the Packaging & Machinery section for its AutoMAP™ Pharma gas measurement system for high or low concentrations of O2 in modified atmosphere packaging. With the updated EU-Annex 1 “Manufacture of Sterile Medicinal Products” explicitly focusing on the quality of small volume and large volume parenterals, AutoMAP™ Pharma’s approach allows the use of the precise laser technology to inspect all different sizes of IV bags, using non-destructive headspace analysis. 

In the Supply Chain Excellence category, Catalent came out top for its outstanding Case Management Services, which provides end-to-end professional supply chain management and orchestration for autologous and allogeneic cell and gene therapies. Designed specifically to address the unique challenges associated with the safe and timely delivery of ATMPs, Catalent’s ‘white glove’ Case Management Services provide complete oversight from start to finish, to ensure delivery of each dose to every patient. 

A comprehensive EDC solution from Lambda Therapeutic Research, that enhances research efficiency and streamlines data management was selected as a beacon of Regulatory Compliance. Lambda’s software suite, including IMPTrack®, KnowledgeNET®, and Biolyte®, is transforming clinical research by enabling real-time, accurate data capture through advanced functionalities like barcode scanning and retina-based verification. It also seamlessly manages and retrieves study-related data, eliminating paper-based records and improving compliance with regulatory guidelines. 

In the Drug Delivery & Device Innovation category, the judges were full of praise for Medicsen’s SMARTPATCH – a wearable patch that uses ultrasounds to deliver drugs subcutaneously, avoiding needles and cannulas to create a unique drug delivery system that ensures patient comfort. Beneficially, it combines the main benefits of current patch pumps, along with the evident upside of eliminating invasive and painful components.

What could represent Accelerating Innovation better than React4Life’s MIVO® (Multi In Vitro Organ) patented organ-on-a-chip? This can host and culture 3D human biological cells or tissues under fluid dynamic conditions as in vivo, overcoming the limitations of current pre-clinical assays while reducing animal testing. It represents a big step forward since it is more reliable than clinical studies, more predictive than in vitro tests, and faster/cheaper than animal models. It is paving the way to more predictive research models, personalized therapies, immuno-oncology, and quicker and more effective drug discovery processes.

Schneider Electric was judged the winner for Sustainability thanks to its Energize program that enables a collaboration between 18 global pharmaceutical companies to collectively engage hundreds of suppliers in bold climate action and decarbonization of the pharmaceutical value chain. The program is a first-of-its-kind effort to leverage the scale of a single industry’s global supply chain in a pre-competitive fashion to drive system-level change. By proactively engaging with their suppliers to create renewable energy opportunities, the 18 convening companies are taking meaningful action to collectively address their electricity usage and inspire other industry sectors to follow suit.

InSyBio impressed the judges reviewing the brand-new Start-Up Initiative category for its ability to revolutionize the medical field, clinical trials and food/nutrition industries through its targeted biomarker discovery. They have developed highly accurate predictive analytics enabling personalization of tests for drugs, nutraceuticals and nutrition products. Its solutions provide the R&D departments of Pharma, Research Institutes and Food/Nutrition companies with the means both analytically and computationally to meet their challenging research and innovation goals. 

Another new category was added this year to celebrate our own CPHI ethos, the ‘Heart of Pharma’ award. The inaugural winners were Merck KGaA – chosen for its Embracing Carers® initiative. An inspiring carer-centric initiation it aims to recognise the role that family carers play in society and support them at each step in their caregiving journey. Embracing Carers® aims to give visibility to the invisible challenges faced by carers and elevate their voices to catalyse societal and institutional change in the recognition and protection of carers.