4th Polish edition of the international Prix Galien competition

  Innovative drugs, the "artificial bone", a vaccine and the preventive-educational "Servier for the Heart" campaign are the winners of the 4th Polish edition of the international Prix Galien competition. "These are breakthrough medicines that will make it possible to save thousands of patients due to their efficiency. I bow my head to those who have developed them"- said prof. Cezary Szczylik, chairman of the Competition Chapter, at the Prix Galien award gala. PRIX GALIEN Poland 2016 – laureates: I.  Category: Innovative medical product: 1.1 Innovative medical product used in outpatient treatment: Award for Boehringer Ingelheim Marketing for: empagliflozin -  the only modern, oral antidiabetic drug that reduces the risk of mortality from cardiovascular causes by 38%. Type 2 diabetes is now one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Deaths from cardiovascular causes are the most common deaths among patients with type 2 diabetes and make for approx. 50-70% of deaths in this group of patients. 1.2 Innovative medical product used in clinical treatment: Award for Janssen-Cilag Polska for: ibrutinib - an innovative drug used in treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, mantle cell lymphoma and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. 1.3 Innovative vaccine: Award for MSD Polska for: 9-valent vaccine against human papillomavirus (recombined, adsorbed) with currently the widest possible range of protection against diseases caused by HPV. 1.4 innovative orphan medicinal product: Award for Amgen Biotechnologia. for: blinatumomab – first breakthrough registered immunotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia B cell precursor without the presence of the Philadelphia chromosome. II.  Category: Innovative scientific discovery: Award for prof. Grażyna Ginalska from the Medical University of Lublin for: new generation, bone-replacement implanting biomaterial for regenerative medicine - popularly called the "artificial bone". It is an original solution for modern, third generation implant preparations. III. Category: Innovative medical products – no awards were granted. IV. Category: Innovative prevention-education campaign: Award for Servier Polska for: „Servier for the Heart” -  a preventive-educational campaign, the main objective of which is to educate and raise the awareness of public health in terms of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and the resulting dangers and preventive examinations and to promote prevention and healthy lifestyle. The main idea behind Prix Galien is honoring the works of people who work for health preservation and development of new treatments. *** The awards ceremony took place on 16 November at the Hilton Hotel in Warsaw. Numerous representatives of the scientific, medical and pharmaceutical industries were in attendance. The honorary patronage over this year's edition of the Prix Galien Poland was extended by: the Embassy of France, the National Research and Development Centre, Main Council of Research Institutes and the National Science Centre. Two scientific scholarships were also awarded during the Prix Galien Poland gala. A Prix Galien scholarship in the amount of 10 000 PLN was awarded to Joanna Stachura from the Department of Immunology, Medical University of Warsaw, for research on the potential applications for thioredoxin inhibitors in cancer therapy. The winner of the French Embassy scholarship was dr Paweł Zajdel – assistant professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry - Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Jagiellonian University Medical College. Assoc. Dr Paweł Zajdel coordinated an interdisciplinary team of researchers who developed a new class of compounds with therapeutic effect on the central nervous system. The object of the invention are particles with a thus far unstudied dual effect, possessing pro-cognitive qualities – i.e. capable of improving cognitive functions in patients with dementia, Alzheimer's disease. The prize is a month-long internship in a selected research center in France.