Herantis Pharma, Targovax, Pelago get the Nordic Stars Award at the Nordic Life Sciences Days in Malmö, Sweden. Nordic Stars Awards winners have been selected annually since 2013 “in special recognition of life science companies in the Nordic region demonstrating outstanding innovation and entrepreneurial skills.”
Björn Ursing, Chairman of the Nordic Stars Award said: “At SwedenBIO we are proud to present the three winners of the Nordic Stars Awards 2017. Each of them has demonstrated impressive entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a passion for developing innovative solutions for their respective clients or patient groups. Together, they are all excellent examples of how Nordic companies can contribute to better healthcare globally.”
The 2017 Nordic Stars gave short introduction for the award winners on their website:
Herantis pharma follows a truly patient centric approach, addressing major unmet medical needs with a broad product portfolio in various therapeutic areas. They have several projects in clinical phase already showing promising results. Their basis in academia has also paved the way for extensive scientific collaborations.
Pelago Bioscience provides a unique model for in situ target engagement studies. The company shows that a well-run service provider with a breakthrough technology can play a key role in developing more efficient processes for both preclinical and clinical drug development. With its partners, it shows true collaborative spirit.
Targovax has two clinical-stage immune-oncology projects with different approaches for solid tumors. Recently having secured a large private placement, Targovax now has the resources required to run the therapies in both stand-alone and combination trials.
Pekka Simula, Herantis’ CEO, said: “This award is above all a recognition of the high quality of scientific research in Finland. Our drug candidate Lymfactin® is based on the scientific research by professor Kari Alitalo’s group, and our drug candidate CDNF is based on the research by professor Mart Saarma’s group. Both are examples of ground-breaking medical research in Finland representing globally leading science. This recognition also reminds of the opportunities that high-quality science will open in the future for Finland, our nation now celebrating 100 years of independence.”
Øystein Soug, CEO of Targovax, said: “We are delighted to receive this award, which is a testament to the fantastic work the team has done this year. To be recognized amongst many great Nordic companies in the life-science field, is a great honour”.
Pelago’s Linkedin page said about the award: “A great way to end the NLSDays 2017 meeting”