ISTANBUL, Turkey, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- CSL Behring, a global leader in the protein biotherapeutics industry, today awarded CSL Behring - Prof. Heimburger Award grants to five young medical researchers at the Hemophilia 2008 World Congress of the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH). The start-up grants of 20,000 euros (approximately $27,000 US) each were awarded to the recipients for preclinical and/or clinical research in the area of coagulation. Projects were selected based on the scientific merit of the work.
The grant is named in honor of Professor Dr. Norbert Heimburger, a pioneer of modern coagulation therapy and a CSL Behring employee for more than three decades. Among his many achievements was the development of virus-safe plasma products based on pasteurization. Due to his research efforts, the company launched the world’s first effectively virus-inactivated FVIII concentrate in 1981. Prof. Dr. Heimburger, honored with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1981, passed away in September 2006.
“CSL Behring is proud to support the excellent efforts of these clinicians as part of our commitment to advancing the science and understanding of coagulation,” said Val Romberg, Head of Research and Development at CSL Behring. “Allowing the next generation of coagulation researchers to establish themselves in this therapeutic area is critical to improving treatment and outcomes for patients with bleeding disorders.”
Applications were reviewed by a special selection committee of four renowned clinicians in the coagulation field: Erik Berntorp, MD, PhD, Malmo University Hospital, Sweden; Jorge DiPaola, MD, Great Plains Regional Hemophilia Treatment Center, USA; David Lillicrap, MD, FRCPC, Queen’s University, Canada; and Johannes Oldenburg, MD. PhD, University of Bonn, Germany.
For more information regarding the Prof. Heimburger Award and specific criteria for 2009 applications, please go to www.cslbehring.com/ProfHeimburgerAward.
About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global leader in the protein biotherapeutics industry. Passionate about saving and improving the quality of patients’ lives, CSL Behring manufactures and markets a range of safe and effective plasma-derived and recombinant products and related services. The company’s therapies are used in the treatment of rare diseases such as immune deficiency disorders, hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, other bleeding disorders and inherited emphysema. Other products are used for the prevention of hemolytic diseases in the newborn, in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation and in the treatment of burns. The company also operates one of the world’s largest plasma collection networks, ZLB Plasma. CSL Behring is a subsidiary of CSL Limited, a biopharmaceutical company with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. For more information, visit www.cslbehring.com.
CONTACT: Sheila A. Burke, Director, Communications & Public Relations,
Worldwide Commercial Operations of CSL Behring, +1-610-878-4209,
Sheila.Burke@cslbehring.com
Web site: http://www.cslbehring.com/
