With CPhI 2020 having been converted into the virtual “Festival of Pharma” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPhI Pharma Awards ceremony took place online via a live streamed event on October 13. Winners in were announced in 13 categories, including a new category specifically devoted to COVID-19 responses.
A number of OINDP companies were among the finalists, and device maker Nemera was named the winner in the Excellence in Pharma: Drug Delivery Devices category for its Safe’n’Spray, a nasal pump integrated with a reusable fingerprint identification and electronic locking module designed for controlled dosing of potent drugs. The Safe’n’Spray device was also a winner at the 2020 Pharmapack awards.
Aptar Pharma was also a finalist in the devices category for its PureHale “nebulizer-like” device, which was launched in 2018, and in the Excellence in Pharma: Packaging category for two products: Aptar CSP Technologies’ Activ-Blister and Noble’s Unidose nasal training kit. Aptar acquired Noble International in November 2019.
Other OINDP specialists up for awards included inhalation CDMO Vectura, a finalist in the Excellence in Pharma: Contract Services and Outsourcing category, and MedPharm, which was shortlisted in the Excellence in Pharma: Analysis, Testing, and Quality Control category for its in vitro models for nasal and lung epithelial tissue. In April 2020, MedPharm announced that it had added the epithelial cell models at its US facility to aid in screening drugs intended for the treatment of coronavirus.
In addition, Lou Kennedy of inhalation solutions and suspensions manufacturer Nephron Pharmaceuticals was up for CEO of the Year. In July 2020, Nephron announced a major expansion of its South Carolina, US facilities, after Kennedy had told the press that the COVID-19 pandemic had increased demand for the company’s inhalation products by almost 50%.
The ceremony concluded with a new category called Excellence in Pharma: Innovation in Response to COVID-19. A majority of the finalists in this category are active in the OINDP space, including Aptar Pharma (for Aptar CSP Technologies’ Activ-Shield), Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Catalent, CrystecPharma (for its mSAS particle engineering technology), Dr. Reddy’s, and MedPharm. Beximco was the jury’s pick as winner, and the People’s Choice award went to MedPharm.
Watch the ceremony here:
