Novartis wins two prestigious Prix Galien Foundation Awards

Gleevec recognized as "Discovery of the Decade" for Best Pharmaceutical Product, Cosentyx as Best Biotechnology Product.

"We are honored to receive these prestigious awards for Cosentyx and Gleevec, which not only have changed the practice of medicine for certain conditions, but also represent years of hard work by our scientists," said Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis. "These wins underscore our commitment to addressing the unmet medical needs of patients through science-based innovation."

Cosentyx was the first fully human interleukin-17A (IL-17A) antagonist approved by the FDA in 2015 for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Psoriasis affects an estimated 7.5 million people in the US. It is a chronic immune-mediated disease characterized by thick and extensive skin lesions (plaques), which can cause itching, scaling, and pain. Cosentyx was also approved for the treatment of active ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis in 2016.

The discovery of Gleevec marked the first time in the history of cancer treatment that scientists were able to identify a chromosomal abnormality and then develop a drug that would target that specific protein. Gleevec, a molecularly targeted treatment, rapidly became a therapy of choice for Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) and KIT (CD117)-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumours (KIT+ GIST). By showing that certain diseases can share a drug-sensitive target with seemingly unrelated ailments, and that molecular targeting can be medically and commercially successful, Gleevec helped establish a new paradigm for drug development.