Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Kalydeco™ Wins The Wall Street Journal's 2012 Technology Innovation Award for Medicine and Biotech
First Drug to Treat the Cystic Fibrosis Defect was Developed in Collaboration With Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Kalydeco, the first drug to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, has won The Wall Street Journal's 2012 Technology Innovation Award in the Medicine and Biotech category. The awards recognize technological breakthroughs that are game-changers or have a wide impact in their field and beyond.
Kalydeco was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. in collaboration with the CF Foundation, which provided significant funding support of $75 million to Vertex's cystic fibrosis program. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2012 for a small segment of the CF population, those ages 6 and older with the G551D mutation of cystic fibrosis. (The G551D mutation is present in about 4 percent of the CF patient population in the United States.)
"We are thrilled that this innovation in CF treatment is already transforming the lives of hundreds of people with the disease," said Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. "Kalydeco opens exciting new doors to research and drug development that may ultimately help us treat all people with cystic fibrosis."
The Wall Street Journal received 536 applications from more than two dozen countries. A team of Journal editors and reporters reviewed the entries and forwarded 172 to an independent panel of judges from venture-capital firms, universities and companies. From that pool, the judges chose a total of 37 winners and runners-up in 18 categories.
Winners were selected for innovation that went beyond the conventional processes in their field, surpassing marginal improvements and having a wide impact.
Kalydeco is the latest example of the CF Foundation's innovative venture philanthropy model, which has raised and invested hundreds of millions of dollars to help develop nearly every CF drug and therapy available today.
About the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the world's leader in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis. The Foundation funds more CF research than any other organization, and nearly every CF drug available today was made possible because of Foundation support. Based in Bethesda, Md., the Foundation also supports and accredits a national care center network that has been recognized by the National Institutes of Health as a model of care for a chronic disease. The CF Foundation is a donor-supported nonprofit organization. For more information, go to www.cff.org.
SOURCE Cystic Fibrosis Foundation