Novartis wins “Discovery of the Decade” and “Best Biotechnology Product” awards

Novartis has been awarded the 2016 Prix Galien USA Award for Best Biotechnology Product for their candidate Cosentyx (secukinumab), as well as the Prix Galien Foundation “Discovery of the Decade” Award for Best Pharmaceutical Product for the drug Gleevec (imatinib mesylate). The awards were presented at a ceremony in New York City.

Best Biotechnology Product

Cosentyx was the first fully human interleukin-17A (IL-17A) antagonist approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015 for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Psoriasis affects an estimated 7.5 million people in the US. It is a chronic immune-mediated disease characterized by thick and extensive skin lesions (plaques), which can cause itching, scaling, and pain. Cosentyx was also approved for the treatment of active ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis in 2016.

Discovery of the Decade

The discovery of Gleevec marked the first time in the history of cancer treatment that scientists were able to identify a chromosomal abnormality and then develop a drug that would target that specific protein. Gleevec, a molecularly targeted treatment, rapidly became a therapy of choice for Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukaemia (Ph+ CML) and KIT (CD117)-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumours (KIT+ GIST). By showing that certain diseases can share a drug-sensitive target with seemingly unrelated ailments and that molecular targeting can be medically and commercially successful, Gleevec helped establish a new paradigm for drug development.