MILAN, Italy, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eurand N.V. and the Controlled Release Society (CRS) today recognized the achievements of three distinguished research scientists in the field of applied oral drug delivery. The Awards recognized exceptional innovation in Oral Drug Delivery and exceptional contributions to the field.
The independent judging panels, comprising internationally-recognized, drug formulation experts, selected two finalists and a Grand Prize winner in the category of “Novel Approached in Oral Drug Delivery” and also selected an individual that has made an exceptional contribution to the field of Oral Drug Delivery. Professor Jouni Hirvonen and Professor Andreas Bernkop-Schnurch, were the finalists in the former category and Lisbeth Illum, Ph.D., D.Sc, was honored by her peers for making a landmark contribution to the field of oral drug delivery.
“We were extremely impressed by the quality of research submitted this year,” said Gearoid Faherty, Eurand’s Chief Executive Officer. “The recipients have conducted outstanding research, crucial to advancing the pharmaceutical industry’s knowledge of oral drug delivery. Their contributions have the potential to make a major impact on drug formulation in the future.”
Grand Prize Winner
The Eurand Award Grand Prize was granted to Professor Jouni Hirvonen, for work conducted by his group in both Finland and the Netherlands entitled “Evaluation of Mesoporous TCPSi, MCM-41, SBA-15 and TUD-1 Materials as Oral Drug Delivery Systems”. The study evaluated four mesoporous materials, materials containing pores with diameters between 2 nm and 50 nm, as drug carriers for oral drug delivery. The aim of this delivery system is to overcome the challenges associated with poor drug solubility which continues to be a major issue in the industry, with 40 percent or more of discovery compounds being poorly soluble and unlikely to become a therapeutic drug despite having the required interaction with its biochemical target. Through presenting the drug in a highly active form by the housing of individual molecules in the carrier nano-pores, the limitations of poor solubility and dispersion for absorption after ingestion can be overcome.
“This work represents an excellent example of a cross-industry approach to the solving of an ongoing unmet need of the pharmaceutical industry” said Stephen Perrett, Eurand’s Product Portfolio Director. “The ability to turn more therapeutic compounds into drug products becomes ever more important”
Professor Hirvonen is Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Finland. He serves as editor-in-dosis of the Scientific Pharmaceutical Journal in Finland and is a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has published some 80 research articles in the field of oral and transdermal drug delivery.
Second Prize Winner
The Eurand Award Second Prize went to Professor Andreas Bernkop-Schnurch, of the University of Vienna. Professor Bernkop-Schnurch’s research (“Thiomers: Polymeric Efflux Pump Inhibitors in Oral Drug Delivery”) focused on the potential use of thiomers (thiolated polymers) as effective efflux pump inhibitors. These compounds have the capacity to inhibit efflux pumps in the gastrointestinal tracts that are responsible for preventing certain pharmaceutical compounds from being absorbed after oral dosing. The study findings indicate that thiomers may inhibit efflux pumps locally without the thiomer being subject to systemic absorption. This means that the passage of an otherwise non-absorbable drug may be facilitated across the gastrointestinal mucosa without compromising defense systems such as the blood/brain barrier, allowing, for example, suitable injectable drugs to be delivered orally.
Professor Bernkop-Schnurch is chair of Pharmaceutical Technology at the Institute of Pharmacy, University of Innsbruck; Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy; a member of advisory/editorial boards of 8 peer- reviewed, international journals and is the author of approximately 200 publications and patents.
Career Achievement Winner in Oral Drug Delivery
Representing more than three decades of study, resulting in new insights into oral drug delivery, Lisbeth Illum, M. Pharm, Ph.D., D.Sc, is the winner of this year’s Career Achievement Award in Oral Drug Delivery. Her work has established fundamental concepts in the area of colloidal carrier systems for site-specific delivery of drugs. She is also a pioneer in the area of chitosan and its application to a variety of pharmaceutical products.
“It was an honor to recognize someone that has displayed consistent excellence in both science and business at this year’s meeting,” said Dr. Perrett.
Dr. Illum has published more than 300 scientific papers, co-edited four books, and filed more than 30 patent applications on novel drug delivery systems. Currently, she is a director of Identity, a drug delivery consultancy, and managing director of Phaeton Research, a drug delivery company. She earlier founded and was a managing director of DanBioSyst UK, now Archimedes Lab Ltd., after its acquisition by Warburg Pincus in 2005.
“We, at Eurand, honor this year’s recipients for their personal and professional commitment to drug delivery,” added Mr. Faherty. “Now in its 8th year, we hope that the Eurand Awards in Oral Drug Delivery continue to inspire researchers from around the world to strive for innovations that address the many complex questions we face in improving drug delivery.”
The Eurand Award in Oral Drug Delivery was first established in 2000 and recognizes both innovations in oral drug delivery and the longstanding commitment to the improvement of drug formulations. The Eurand Award is sponsored by Eurand and held in conjunction with the Controlled Release Society annual meeting. The Award is regarded as a premier industry award and is designed to encourage, recognize and reward innovative approaches in oral drug delivery. Over the past eight years, the Eurand Award has been presented to the most innovative scientists in the field for their outstanding research efforts and for their work in advancing oral drug delivery. For further information on the Eurand Award in Oral Drug Delivery, please visit the Eurand website at www.eurand.com.
About Eurand
Eurand is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops enhanced pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products based on its proprietary drug formulation technologies. Eurand has had four products approved by the FDA since 2000 and has a pipeline of product candidates in development for itself and its collaboration partners. Eurand has completed two phase III clinical trials on its lead product candidate Zentase(TM) for the treatment of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency and filed the first segment of its rolling NDA for this product in June 2007. Eurand’s technology platforms include bioavailability enhancement of poorly soluble drugs, customized release, taste-making/fast-dissolving formulations and drug conjugation.
Eurand is a global company with facilities in the USA and Europe. For more information, visit Eurand’s website at www.eurand.com.
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Eurand
CONTACT: Marian Cutler of Eurand, +1-973-517-0519
Web site: http://www.eurand.com/
