CPhI Worldwide, organised by Informa PLC, has announced the winners of the prestigious 2019 CPhI Pharma Awards – celebrating the industry’s top innovators, performers and outstanding achievements across 13 categories, spanning the entire industry supply chain.

The winners have been recognised for delivering excellence in pharma and were unveiled during an invitation-only ceremony on the opening evening of CPhI Worldwide in Frankfurt.

The prestigious ‘CEO of the Year’ award has been bestowed upon Dr Ge Li, Founder, Chairman and CEO of WuXi AppTec who was chosen for his significant contribution to the global biopharma R&D industry. Under his leadership, WuXi AppTec has become a highly respected contributor to global healthcare innovation. The company is enabling more than 3,700 customers and partners in more than 30 countries by offering open-access capabilities and services, accelerating the discovery and development of new medicines for patients around the world.

For the second time in three years, Cambrex was awarded the ‘API Development’ category for their Crystallisation Screening and Process Development Service. The service has bridged the gap between the bench and manufacturing plat, providing controlled, robust and scalable crystallization processes. Hovione received a ‘highly commended’ acknowledgement for their Process Ranking of Inputs from Manufacturing (PRIME).

Lifetime Achievement

John Chiminski, Chair and CEO at Catalent Pharma Solutions, won the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award for his accomplishments spanning more than three decades. These include the last 10 years at Catalent, during which time the company has become a true benchmark of advanced delivery technologies, development, and manufacturing solutions.

The ‘Formulation’ award was given to Nanoform for its controlled expansion of supercritical solutions (CESS). Spraying Systems Co. / Fluid Air Inc. were bestowed with the ‘Manufacturing Technology and Equipment’ award for their PolarDry’ – the Cooler Technology. Cited as the future of spray drying, it utilises electrostatic technology to prevent API loss, degradation, and denaturalisation.

Univercells received the ‘Bioprocessing and Manufacturing’ award in recognition of its NevoLine PlatformTM, which is a bioproduction system for vaccines. The ‘Regulatory Procedures and Compliance’ prize was given to Merck Healthcare KGaA for ‘Project SARA’ (Smart Assistant for Regulatory Affairs).

The ‘Analysis, Testing, and Quality Control’ category was claimed by MedPharm for pioneering the regulatory approval of topical products using in vitro bioequivalence. MedPharm is the first contract research organisation to gain regulatory approval using in vitro models to demonstrate the bioequivalence of a generic formulation compared to the originator.

SCHOTT Pharmaceutical Systems and W.L. Gore & Associates received the ‘Packaging’ award for its syriQ BioPure – a silicone-free syringe – whilst Hoffmann Neopac was highly commended for their STYLO Spatula applicator.

Company of the year 

The winner of the ‘Pharma Service Company of the Year Award’ is Lonza Pharma & Biotech. The company is recognised for its integrated global services offering that spans the pharmaceutical, biotech, consumer health and speciality chemicals market.

In ‘Contract Services and Outsourcing’ Nanopharm Ltd – an Aptar pharma company – was selected as the winner for SmartTrack™, with CMC being highly commended for their CMAC National Facility. Finally, the award for ‘Drug Delivery and Devices’ was given to Phillips-Medisize for its Connected Health Platform, and the ‘Supply Chain, Logistics and Distribution’ category was given to Kemiex AG.

Tara Dougal, Head of Content at Informa, commented: “The judges noted that this year our entries possessed an extremely high standard. All of the finalists would have made outstanding winners in previous years. On behalf of CPhI Worldwide, I would like to extend my congratulations to all the winners and commend all of the finalists. What you are doing is of tremendous benefit to the industry, but more importantly, it is also directly contributing to improved patient experiences globally”.