Awards open to recognise industry’s leaders

AusBiotech

The 2018 AusBiotech and Johnson & Johnson Industry Excellence Awards are now open for nominations to recognise the highest achievers in the Australian life sciences. This year’s industry awards will be presented at AusBiotech 2018 in Brisbane.

The prestigious awards recognise the leading lights of Australia’s world-class biotechnology and medical technology sectors, including researchers who successfully translate their discoveries into clinical practice and companies who pioneer the developments of new treatments, devices and reliable diagnostics.

Nominations for the awards are open until Friday 28 September 2018 in the following categories:

Industry Leadership Award

This award seeks candidates who have already made a significant difference to the industry and have an outstanding commitment to life sciences/biotechnology that often goes beyond the 'job description'. Candidates will be known for their passion, enthusiasm and commitment to the industry in Australia.

Australian Company of the Year

The Australian Company of the Year will be awarded to a company that has demonstrated significant achievement/s, and may include any company working in biotechnology or life sciences, including but not limited to the medical diagnostics or devices, pharmaceutical and agricultural biotechnology sectors. Criteria for companies may include deals done, product pipeline, IP, company strategy and/or revenue.

Australian Emerging Company of the Year

The Emerging Company of the Year award will be based on the same criteria as the previous category, but be specific to companies under five years of age.

The awards will be presented on Wednesday 31 October at AusBiotech 2018. Find out more or nominate a company or individual for an award. 

The 2017 winners were:

Industry Leadership Award: Mrs Lusia Guthrie, Chair, Clever Culture Systems

Mrs Lusia Guthrie is the chair of Clever Culture Systems AG, LBT Innovations’ joint venture based in Zurich, with over 35 years in the pharmaceutical, medtech and bioscience industries. She holds Board positions with the BioMelbourne Network and ANDHealth and was recently appointed chair of the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Mrs Guthrie also holds industry advisory committee positions with the Australian Centre for Visual Technology at the University of Adelaide and the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University.

Australian Company of the Year: Planet Innovation

Planet Innovation (PI), over the last 12 months, has raised the profile of the Australian biotechnology industry through sustained company success, breakthrough innovations and proactive thought-leadership. During this time, PI doubled its company revenue, created over 100 new jobs for the Australian biotechnology sector, and more than tripled its manufacturing export revenues of biomed and life-science products.

Australian Emerging Company of the Year: CancerAid

CancerAid has developed a smartphone application for cancer patients, caregivers and clinicians. This digital health tool is designed to address key issues faced in oncology to provide value-added services. Launched last year, the App has quickly become the number one cancer app in Australia, the US and the UK.