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| | News Releases | | Bridion® (sugammadex) has been chosen as the winner of the Nexxus 2008 West of Scotland Life Science Innovation AwardReinvigorating West of Scotland InnovationGLASGOW, Scotland, Nov. 13 -- With a plethora of industry awards being made right, left and centre these days it’s no wonder that the very thought of another of them might just have a soporific effect on you. Which is precisely why an award for a life science innovation which reinvigorates is worthy of attention!Bridion® (sugammadex) - a muscle relaxant reversal agent - has been developed by Schering-Plough at its Newhouse site (formerly Organon Laboratories). Bridion is the first major pharmaceutical advance in the field of anaesthesia in two decades. It was specifically designed to rapidly reverse both moderate and deep muscle relaxation induced by the commonly used muscle relaxants rocuronium bromide or vecuronium bromide, which can give anaesthesiologists greater control over muscle relaxation during surgery. Bridion works in an entirely novel way by encapsulating the muscle relaxant molecule and rendering it inactive.In recognition of this it has been chosen as the winner of the Nexxus 2008 West of Scotland Life Science Innovation Award, sponsored this year by ITI Life Sciences.A muscle relaxant plays several critical roles in general anaesthesia. Anaesthesiologists use muscle relaxation to improve surgical conditions and to facilitate intubation and mechanical ventilation. Reversal agents reverse the effects of muscle relaxants, enabling patients to regain normal muscle function sooner and breathe on their own. Current reversal agents are slow and are associated with certain undesirable side effects, including cardiac rhythm disturbances and gastrointestinal and pulmonary side effects.Accepting the Award on behalf of Schering-Plough Research Institute, David Hill, Executive Director, Pharmacology, said : “Having originally been involved in the discovery and development of a number of muscle relaxants which have long been used in surgery, the team at Newhouse are delighted to have now also developed such a highly effective reversal agent. We hope and believe that it will not only speed patient recovery time but help to decrease the risks inherent with any surgical procedure.”Managing Director of ITI Life Sciences - sponsors of this year’s Nexxus Innovation Award - Eleanor Mitchell said : “As an organisation we are committed to the success of the Scottish life science industry. Innovations such as this continue to demonstrate that the sector in Scotland can hold its own on the global stage and is capable of producing world-class technology.”
Issued on behalf of Nexxus, the West of Scotland BioScience Network.
Notes for Editors2008 Annual Nexxus Life Science AwardsThe Annual Nexxus Award for Life Science Innovation was presented at an event held in Glasgow on 12 November 2008, attended by over 100 representatives of the West of Scotland life science industry. Runners up in this category were last year’s winners, the Strathclyde Institute of Medical Devices with their Blood Bag innovation (a single-use, flat-pack device to prepare blood for transfusion without the need for complicated and expensive centrifugation which may be particularly useful in 3rd world or military field environments); and NHS Ayrshire and Arran with their Rhinopinch innovation (a lightweight adjustable plastic nasal strip designed to staunch nose bleeds, simple enough to be used by non-clinicians and particularly useful for paramedics, nursery teachers, schools and nursing staff. This innovation was further developed with assistance from Scottish Health Innovations Ltd). Winners in the other 2008 Nexxus Life Science Awards categories were :-- Nexxus Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by The Mentholatum Company): Professor Moira Brown OBE, Founder and Director of Crusade Laboratories, Glasgow
- Nexxus Most Promising Young Life Science Company of the Year : Vitrology, a biopharmaceutical contract research organisation, Clydebank
- Nexxus Young Life Scientist of the Year : Dr Gail McConnell, RCUK Academic Fellow, Centre for Biophotonics, University of Strathclyde
Nexxus (www.nexxusscotland.com) - Nexxus was launched in 2003 to promote and support research excellence, innovation and knowledge transfer within the life science community in the West of Scotland.Continued investment in state-of-the art cardiovascular, biomedical, leukaemia, cancer, oncology and veterinary facilities in the West of Scotland are further enhancing the area's life science capabilities. Amongst the many benefits of these new facilities is the provision of opportunities for even wider research, in environments conducive to experts in related fields working more closely together.The general willingness of the West of Scotland life science community to interact with others, both locally and further afield, is reaping many benefits including increased opportunities for collaborations and knowledge transfer; attracting and retaining of world class staff and general investment in the industry sector, all of which directly support the growth of the Scottish economy. Partnership is at the heart of the activity here, with translational medicine and convergence of technology very much in evidence.Nexxus has recently secured funding to continue its activities in the West of Scotland and, in a collaboration with the Edinburgh Science Triangle, to expand its services to the East of Scotland also.Schering-Plough (www.shering-plough.com) – Schering-Plough is an innovation-driven, science-centred global health care company. Through its own biopharmaceutical research and collaborations with partners, Schering-Plough creates therapies that help save and improve lives around the world. The company applies its research-and-development platform to human prescription and consumer products as well as to animal health products. Schering-Plough’s vision is to “Earn Trust, Every Day” with the doctors, patients, customers and other stakeholders served by its colleagues around the world. Schering-Plough is headquartered in Kenilworth, NJ, USA.In November 2007, Schering-Plough acquired the former Organon BioSciences which included a research facility in Newhouse. The combined pipeline is one of the richest and most promising in our industry today, with projects and compounds for the prevention of heart attacks and strokes and the treatment of cancer, HIV and AIDS, hepatitis C, mental illnesses, Parkinson’s disease and more. Our therapeutic areas of focus are : central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular disease, immunology and infectious diseases, oncology, respiratory disease and women’s health. In Scotland, the company’s research efforts focus on anaesthesia, CNS and cardiovascular disease. Our CNS efforts have been focused recently on new treatments for schizophrenia.ITI Life Sciences (www.itilifesciences.com) is a division of ITI Scotland Ltd, a publicly funded organisation focused on driving sustainable economic growth in Scotland through ownership of commercially targeted R&D programmes delivering world-class intellectual assets. ITI Scotland is focused on three market areas: energy, life sciences, and digital media and communications technology.ITI Life Sciences (Dundee, Scotland) aims to leverage Scotland's research excellence in life sciences to generate new technologies that address future global market opportunities.This is achieved by identifying and commissioning early stage R&D programmes based on assessing future market needs and developing the required technology assets. The organisation also identifies appropriate commercial partners to exploit these assets globally.To date, ITI Life Sciences has initiated R&D programmes in commercially attractive areas such as point of care diagnostics, stem cell technologies, predictive drug screening and text mining. |
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