Almirall Prodesfarma confers the 2002 Pharmacology Award.
Within the field of pharmacology, this award is distinguished for recognising a future research project as opposed to a completed project.
Today at the 24th Congress of the Spanish Pharmacology Society that is taking place in Toledo from 22 to 25 September, the 2002 Pharmacology Award is being conferred. Jointly promoted by Almirall Prodesfarma, the first Spanish multinational pharmaceutical company, and the Spanish Pharmacology Society (SEF), it is the first award to recognise the quality of future research projects within the field of pharmacology in Spain.
With a prize of 6,000 euros, the purpose of this award is to promote pharmacological research in our country. "It attempts to provide a stimulus for first class research projects in the field", says Dr Amadeu Gavaldà, a jury member from Almirall Prodesfarma's Pharmacology division.
The highest ranked project in this year's competition is entitled, "Study of the chemokines involved in leukocyte-endothelium interactions induced by angiotensin II and their possible modulation by different natural and semi-synthetic products." This study will be conducted by Dr María Jesús Sanz, Dr María Amparo Blázquez, Dr Peter J. José, Dr Lara Milián and Dr Teresa Mateo from the University of Valencia.
The jury, composed of Dr Felipe Sánchez de la Cuesta, president of SEF, Dr Jesús Llenas and Dr Amadeu Gavaldà, both from Almirall Prodesfarma, emphasised the high quality of all the projects submitted. "When making the decision we have taken into account the originality and topicality of the project, its structure, and the difficulty in conducting the study, as well as the new information that could be obtained through its results", explains Dr Gavaldà.
The evaluation of the projects submitted was carried out through an independent scoring process as well as through consensus among the jury members. The results of this study, which will be conducted during the 2002-2003 period, will be publicly presented at the next Spanish Pharmacology Society congress.
Almirall Prodesfarma, the first Spanish multinational pharmaceutical company
The main aim of Almirall Prodesfarma, the first Spanish multinational pharmaceutical company, is to provide society with innovative drugs to combat discomfort and disease, thus helping to improve health and quality of life. To this end, it constantly devotes the maximum human and financial resources to researching new products.
The company's main research fields fall within the areas related to the treatment of asthma, allergies, bronchitis, atopic dermatitis, arthritis and gastrointestinal disorders.
Global estimation of the workforce in 2002 is 3,006 people, with an R&D team of 508. Annual expenses for R&D in 2001 reached 56 million euros and the estimate for this year 2002 is 73 million euros. In this area, the global forecast for the next five years is 450 million euros.
In addition, the company has five R&D centres and six manufacturing plants, as well as branch offices in the main capital cities of Spain and subsidiaries in Europe and Latin America.