Sandoz Takes Treble Honors At GGB Awards 2023

Sandoz has been crowned as a triple winner at the Global Generics & Biosimilars Awards 2023, taking home three prizes at our ceremony in Barcelona – including our lead Company of the Year category, as well as Leader of the Year and Business Development of the Year – and capping what has been an eventful year for the firm as it has spun off from former parent company Novartis (see sidebar).

Awarding the firm our Company of the Year award, one of our panel of expert judges said “this is Sandoz’s year, the year when it finally gains its independence and can demonstrate what it can do outside Novartis,” while another pointed to “strong progress” made by the firm in recent quarters.

Meanwhile, naming CEO Richard Saynor as Leader of the Year, our judges highlighted “an impressive number of achievements” for Saynor, adding that “Richard continues to be a driver of all Sandoz’s values” and “has done a sterling job of steering Sandoz towards independence,” suggesting that he will now be able to “show what he can do once Sandoz is no longer part of Novartis.” 

Finally, the Business Development of the Year prize was awarded to Sandoz for its biosimilars development partnership with Just-Evotec Biologics. (Also see "Sandoz Makes Major Moves To Bolster Biosimilars Ahead Of Spinoff" - Generics Bulletin, 10 May, 2023.)

Our judges called this a “commendable deal,” adding that they would be “awaiting results” of what was “an interesting collaboration with the use of AI.”

Samsung Bioepis Wins Two Awards

Sandoz was not the only multiple award winner of the night, however. Samsung Bioepis took home the prizes for Company of the Year in the APAC region and Regulatory Achievement of the Year, with judges highlighting the “enormous progress being made by this impressive company” and suggesting that Samsung Bioepis was “creating a strong brand and reputation in a market that is challenging and with highly complex products.”

“Samsung Bioepis continues to lead the way in biosimilars,” commented one of our judges, also pointing to the firm’s early completion of Phase III clinical studies for multiple biosimilar candidates.

Other regional Company of the Year winners included Accord Healthcare for the EMEA region. Accord “has established itself firmly as one of Europe’s fastest growing pharmaceutical companies,” commented one of our judges, pointing to achievements that included the firm “becoming a leading supplier of G-CSF biosimilars in Europe” as well “the largest supplier of chemotherapy products in Europe.” Another judge pointed to “some clear and unique initiatives in 2023” – such as geographical expansion and an entry into animal health – as well as the firm’s focus on people and “putting accessible medicine at the forefront of its strategy.”  (Also see "Accord Unveils New Ventures After A Year Of Change" - Generics Bulletin, 28 Nov, 2022.)

Meanwhile, the Company of the Year Americas regional award was won by Dr Reddy’s Americas, with judges pointing to the firm’s “major presence across Latin American markets” where the company had “built up serious clout, including as the number one company represented in oncology across Brazil, Colombia and Chile.” The firm’s “achievements in the Caribbean are also noteworthy, including by becoming the first company to launch four biosimilars in Jamaica,” while judges also highlighted “impressive patient outreach efforts in the oncology space.”

Biocon Biologics took home our Acquisition of the Year award with its deal for the global biosimilars business of former partner Viatris (see sidebar).

This “genuinely transformative deal” was “a very good entry highlighting a hugely significant acquisition,” commented our judges. “Not only is this big in terms of strategic and corporate value now, but it will clearly provide a world-leading platform to exploit the ‘boom’ in biosimilars as exclusivities expire in the coming years.”

Our Value Added Medicines Initiative of the Year award was won by Sun Pharma, with the launch of Sezaby – the only FDA-approved and only preservative-free phenobarbital for neonatal seizures – lauded as “an important achievement” and a “great initiative” according to our judges.

And Olon Group was named as API Supplier of the Year, with judges highlighting the firm’s ongoing investments as well as its “milestone” new plant opening in 2023. (Also see "Olon Expands Pipeline With Pralsetinib And Trilaciclib" - Generics Bulletin, 20 Oct, 2023.)

Polpharma Biologics was crowned the winner of our Biosimilars Initiative of the Year award following its recent European and US approvals for natalizumab – on which the firm has partnered with Sandoz – with judges describing the firm’s entry as “a strong submission with the satisfaction of patient unmet need at its core.” The approval represented “a significant achievement for Polpharma Biologics' burgeoning biosimilars business and for patients across the US and Europe that will enjoy broader access to a vital drug to treat MS.” (Also see "Polpharma Biologics CEO Discusses Natalizumab Milestone" - Generics Bulletin, 10 Aug, 2023.)

And Lambda Therapeutic Research won the award for Industry Partner of the Year thanks to its “innovative testing methods for biosimilars.” The firm’s “innovative assays introduce novel approaches and techniques to overcome specific challenges in bioanalysis and exceed the most stringent regulatory expectations from agencies like the US FDA and EMA,” summarized one of our judges.

In our Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year category, Teva was awarded a win after judges recognized that the firm took “great care to understand the mental health crisis in the US and developed an exceptional partnership with Direct Relief to address the problem” with a “unique” program that produced strong results. And highly commended in the CSR category were Shanghai Henlius Biotech with a program that provided training and education to doctors in Chinese rural villages.

Finally, our new category for 2023 – Campaign of the Year – was won by Biosimilars Canada for its efforts to encourage biosimilar switching. (Also see "Another Canadian Province Switches To Biosimilars" - Generics Bulletin, 17 Oct, 2023.) “This was an excellent campaign which resulted in a change in policy and significant savings for the Canadian health system,” commented our judges, underlining that there was “no doubt that this has been a huge political and strategic undertaking, which appears to have been implemented successfully.”

Winning an award this year was no mean feat, after our judging panel was called upon to evaluate more than 100 entries from almost 50 companies – a record for the GGB Awards – with these scores used to compile the final shortlist and pick the winners.

In 2023, the tenth year of the GGB Awards, the event was once again backed by our headline sponsor, IQVIA – along with category sponsors Adalvo, Aurobindo, Parsity Group, Pharmacloud, Pharmawise and West Pharmaceutical Services – and also supported by International Health Partners, the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association, and the US Association for Accessible Medicines and its Biosimilars Council. Meanwhile, Sandoz was the sponsor of our welcome reception.

For full details of the awards, including our categories and sponsors, click here.

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