Scotland’s life sciences winners announced
The winners of the prestigious Scottish Enterprise Life Sciences Awards 2015 have been announced.
Held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Thursday 5thFebruary, the annual awards ceremony was attended by over 800 guests from the global life sciences community.
The awards recognise the success and achievements of Scotland’s internationally renowned life sciences sector in areas including innovation, investment, community engagement and collaboration. They also focus on the ongoing work of Scottish Enterprise and its partners to grow and develop a sustainable, globally competitive life sciences sector in Scotland.
Scotland's life sciences industry already contributes more than £3 billion a year to the Scottish economy with some 650 organisations employing around 35,000 people. It is globally recognised for its high levels of innovation – translating ideas and research into novel treatments and world-leading therapies.
Julia Brown, senior director of life and chemical sciences at Scottish Enterprise said: "Congratulations to this year’s winners. Once again the quality of the candidates was outstanding and reinforced the strength of the skills pool that makes up the Scottish life sciences industry.
“The theme for this year’s awards was connectivity: from connecting with new markets and other sectors, to exploring potential collaborations. As an industry, it is vital that we work together to realise new opportunities in order to drive home long term, sustainable growth for the Scottish economy.”
The winners of this year’s awards are:
Life Sciences Business Leadership (2014)
Eleanor McFadden, Frontier Science (Scotland) Ltd.
Eleanor McFadden is the Managing Director of Frontier Science (Scotland) Ltd. She has devoted her career to clinical trials and is internationally respected for her contribution to
the industry. After a very successful career in the US, Eleanor returned home to Kincraig, with the intention of continuing her career consulting and quickly founded Frontier Science Scotland, a Scottish based charity, above a bookstore in Kingussie. In the last 10 years Frontier Science has now grown to nearly 30 employees, the majority of whom are highly educated and skilled data managers and statisticians with Masters or PhDs.
Life Sciences Entrepreneurial Business Leadership (2014)
Professor Andrew Hopkins, ex scientia Ltd
ex scientia is a spin out from the University of Dundee and is pioneering medicines tailored to polypharmacology for a wide range of human diseases where improved efficacy is
required.
Andrew is the Founder and CEO of ex scientia as well as continuing his roles as Director of SULSA and Chair of Medicinal Informatics at the University of Dundee. Overall,
Andrew has raised a total of £30 million for research activities – both academic and commercial - in Scotland in the past 2 years. As an entrepreneur, Andrew has created
two commercial companies - ex scientia Ltd and Kinetic Discovery Ltd.
Investment of the Year (2014)
NuCana BioMed Ltd, Edinburgh
NuCana is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing and commercialising medicines. NuCana was founded in 2008 in Edinburgh by CEO Hugh Griffith and
Executive Chairman Chris Wood. In April 2014 NuCana completed a £33,850,000 Series B
financing to fund the development and commercialisation of its portfolio of anti-cancer medicines. The financing was led by new investor, Sofinnova Ventures, alongside existing
investors Morningside Ventures, Alida Capital International and the Scottish Investment Bank. This investment is the largest ever biotech investment in Scotland and the 14th
largest globally into a private biotechnology company.
Innovation Award
Tactical Wireless Ltd., Forres
Tactical Wireless Ltd, based in Forres, has developed a product called Omni-Hub – an integrated communications hub capable of taking inputs from sensors, analogue and
digital video footage, data and sound audio which can transmit communication via all modes. In short, Omni-Hub is a unique product that can transmit real time data from remote locations, irrespective of the challenges caused by poor connectivity from insufficient telecommunications infrastructure in remote areas.
Innovative Collaboration
University of Glasgow with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Aridhia and Thermo Fisher Scientific Ltd., University of Glasgow
Glasgow’s hospitals are undergoing major modernisation, including construction of the £1 billion new South Glasgow University Hospital. Opening in 2015, this will be one of the
largest hospitals in Europe with maternity, paediatric and adult services on a single site.
The University of Glasgow, with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Aridhia and Thermo Fisher Scientific, has now addressed the ‘missing gap’ of the new hospital investment, by developing an industry-driven infrastructure and collaboration to provide a focus for
innovation and industry collaboration.
Community Engagement
BASF Pharma (Callanish) Ltd, Isle of Lewis
BASF Pharma, formerly Equateq Ltd, is a global leader in manufacturing highly-concentrated omega-3 fatty acids. The site, which employs around 50 people, is located in Callanish on the Isle of Lewis. Globally, BASF supports initiatives that reach out to as many people as possible and have long lasting impact. It fosters education, science, social projects, sports and cultural events in the communities around its sites. On a regional and national level BASF also works together with universities, schools and non-profit organisations.
Export & International Trade
ProStrakan Group plc, Galashiels
ProStrakan is a rapidly growing speciality pharmaceutical company headquartered in Galashiels and is engaged in the development and commercialisation of prescription
medicines for the treatment of unmet therapeutic needs across Europe and the US, with a particular focus in oncology. ProStrakan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd., a Japan-based speciality pharmaceutical company. Sales and marketing of ProStrakan’s portfolio of products are handled by commercial subsidiaries based in the UK,
US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and other EU countries.