Individuals and companies that have played a stellar role in the promotion of life sciences industry in Singapore and Asia were honored at the 2nd BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Life Sciences Industry Awards at a glittering function held at The Legends, Fort Cannings Park, Singapore, on March 12, 2010.

Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Manpower, Lee Yi Shyan, presented the awards.

Welcoming the gathering of over 150 industry people, Shyam Malhotra, editor-in-chief, BioSpectrum and executive director of CyberMedia, said, “The 2nd BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Awards program is part of the magazine's efforts to highlight the achievements of the life sciences industry in Singapore and the region even as the sector seeks to become a hub for the development of cutting-edge technology developments.�

Before presenting the awards to the achievers, Lee Yi Shyan, said, “This evening's awards ceremony recognizes the outstanding contributions of some of the individuals and companies towards the development of the biotechnology and life sciences industry. In particular, it honors individuals and companies that have displayed outstanding qualities in leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation in the biomedical sciences industry.�

Dr K Anji Reddy, who single-handedly built Dr Reddy's Laboratories, founded in Hyderabad, in India 26 years ago, into a power house of pharmaceutical manufacturing received the Life Time Achievement Award. A short film 'The CheMystery Solver' capturing the success story of Dr Reddy's Laboratories and the man behind that success was screened at the awards show.

The Person of the Year Award was given to Dr Brian A McNamee, CEO and MD, CSL, Australia, for his inimitable leadership qualities. He has made a remarkable achievement by converting the government enterprise CSL to one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world. Ben Yang, director-Asia Operations, CSL Biotherapies Asia Pacific, Hong Kong, received this award on behalf of Dr Brain McNamee.

The Entrepreneur of the Year Award was given to Dr Xiaochuan Wang, CEO, Sundia MediTech, China, for her entrepreneurial skills and for unique approach of adopting different business models to take Sundia MediTech to new heights in a short span of just over five years.

The Product of the Year Award was presented to two products. First product was Shanchol, the oral vaccine to protect against cholera, from Shantha Biotechnics, now a part of Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the Sanofi-aventis Group, and the second product OvPlex, an ovarian cancer test developed by HealthLinx, Australia. Varaprasad Reddy, MD of Shantha Biotechnics and Nick Gatsios, MD of HealthLinx received the awards.

Dr K Anji Reddy and other award winners were chosen by an international jury comprising Prof Dr B Suresh, president of Indian Pharmaceutical Association; G Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company, San Francisco, US; Dr Deborah Rathjen, Chair of AusBio, Australia's leading industry body for biotechnology; Dr Chungcheng Liu, general director, Taiwan's Biomedical Engineering Lab and vice president, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan; Jung Jin Seo, CEO and chairman of Celltrion, Korea; and E Abraham Mathew, group editor, BioSpectrum, India.

In addition to the jury awards, BioSpectrum honored six companies with Editor's Choice Awards for Emerging Company of the Year in their respective countries. Curiox Biosystems and Moleac from Singapore, Crystal Genomics and RNL Bio from Korea, Inno Biologics from Malaysia and Vita Genomics from Taiwan were presented with BioSpectrum Editor's Choice Award.

 N Suresh, chief editor of BioSpectrum concluded by saying, “The award-winning magazine, available in print, digital and online formats will continue to play a catalytic role in helping the regional industry catch global attention and become a leader in this vital segmentâ€?.



Stalwarts speak
“BioSpectrum Award is a recognition from the esteemed judging panel. It is interesting to note that we were not aware of the product being submitted for this award and I was extremely excited when I received the award notification from BioSpectrum�

“Inno Bio is honored and inspired by the recognition awarded by BioSpectrum as the Emerging Company of the Year 2010�

“It was a pleasant surprise and I felt proud of what this award says about CSL and our achievements as a company�

“We are honored to be one of the recipients of this prestigious award and we believe that this is another validation of our capabilities and potential�

“We are grateful to BioSpectrum for recognizing us as an emerging company in biomedical science in 2010�

“We are very happy about the progress we made to bring therapeutics to meet the needs of the sufferers and we are proud about these efforts being recognized by BioSpectrum. Thank you very much for your encouragement and support�

“I sincerely appreciate BioSpectrum and the reviewers for choosing us for this award. It is a great endorsement justifying our nine-year efforts by many hard-working people. It would certainly enhance team morale and comfort our investors for their patience�

“We strongly believe that the life-saving stem cell therapies will be a central focus in medicine and holds promising future for mankind. RNL BIO is committed to creating and developing therapies that will not only prevent disease but ensure a better quality of life for all�