BPS Drug Discovery of the Year 2013 opens for nominations

Judges welcome submissions from across the spectrum of pharmacology

The British Pharmacological Society (BPS) proudly announces that it is now accepting nominations for its Drug Discovery of the Year award. The award was established by BPS to demonstrate the importance of pharmacology in the development of new medicines, and to reward the achievements of the teams of scientists who discover new drugs.

Drug Discovery of the Year was presented last year to the team who developed vismodegib for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma. The announcement followed judging by the BPS Industry Committee, consisting of experts in industrial pharmacology, who reviewed nominations from across the world and a range of disease areas.

Professor Philip Routledge, BPS President, comments: “I am delighted to announce the details of Drug Discovery of the Year and to welcome submissions from across the whole spectrum of pharmacology. BPS intends to build on the number and high quality of the nominations received in 2012, all of which demonstrated the importance of pharmacology in drug discovery.”

This year, BPS Industry Committee will consider nominations for the discovery team behind a drug – whether a large or a small molecule – that best fulfils the following criteria:

• gained regulatory approval within the last 3 years in the EU and/or US
• preclinical to clinical translation shows the importance of pharmacology in the drug discovery/development process
• has a significant impact on an unmet medical need
• first-in-class, or is a significant improvement over other drugs in the class
• mechanism of action known