Nominations open for 2016 Industry Excellence Awards

The 2016 Johnson & Johnson Innovation 2016 Industry Excellence Awards, which recognise and honour high achievers in the Australian life sciences industry, are now open for nominations.

The prestigious awards celebrate those who have made and continue to make a considerable contribution to the biotechnology industry and the growth of the bioeconomy. Past recipients include researchers who have successfully translated their discoveries into clinical practice and companies that have pioneered the developments of new treatments and reliable diagnostics.

The 2015 Industry Excellence Awards winners were as follows:

• Industry Leadership Award — Professor Maree Smith, for her stellar career as a researcher and her ability to translate her discoveries of novel therapeutics to clinical practice.
• Emerging Company of the Year — Ellume, for its development of simple, sensitive and reliable diagnostics for infectious diseases and linking those tools to optimal therapy.
• Company of the Year — Spinifex Pharmaceuticals, for its work as a pioneer in the development of new treatments for chronic pain.

Nominations for this year’s awards are available here and are open until 30 September. The awards will be announced at the AusBiotech 2016 national conference in Melbourne — one of three major events being held as part of International BioFest 2016 from 24–27 October.

Image caption: The recipients of the 2015 Industry Excellence Awards — Professor Maree Smith, Ellume Managing Director Dr Sean Parsons and Spinifex Pharmaceuticals CEO Tom McCarthy.