Merial and Pfizer led the Pack at Animal Pharm's Inaugural Animal Health Industry Excellence Awards, Held in London's Docklands on October 12th.

LONDON, October 13 /PRNewswire/ -- At a black-tie ceremony hosted by "television vet" Trude Mostue, Pfizer scooped the Animal Health Company of the Year award, beating off stiff competition from Heska, which has been celebrating its move into profitability, and Prionics which has also had an outstanding year. The award was sponsored by Norbrook.

The Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by iAdvantage and presented by the chairman of IFAH-Europe's Committee of National Associations Philip Sketchley, went to Dr Peter Holdsworth, inaugural chief executive of the new Australian industry association, the Animal Health Alliance and a leading force behind the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology.

Dr Holdsworth beat off some very stiff competition from Norbrook founder Lord Ballyedmond, Bruce Vivash Jones, from Vivash Jones Consulting, Professor Doctor Herbert Thomas from Bayer Animal Health and Dr Hiram Lasher from Lasher Associates.

Merial won awards for the award for Best New Livestock Product for VAXXITEX HVT + IBD, an innovative poultry vaccine that offers immunity against Marek's and Gumboro diseases, and best new equine veterinary product for EQUIOXX/PREVICOX, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory aimed at equine osteoarthritis. The two awards were sponsored by IfTA and Doane Market Research respectively.

Merial, along with business partners Bioject, also walked away with the award for the Best Drug Delivery Advance, with PureVax, a feline rabies vaccine that uses needle-free technology developed by Bioject. The category was sponsored by CF Grass Consulting.

The company beat off competition from Vetoquinol for its Clavaseptin palatable tablets, and Novartis subsidiary Aqua Health for its DNA vaccine Apex-IHN for salmon.

Velcera Pharmaceuticals won the Licensing Deal of the Year award, for its licensing deal with NovaDel Pharma over its transmucosal oral spray drug delivery technology. The award was sponsored by Wood Mackenzie.

The company beat off competition from Imugene and Merial in their deal over the Poultry Productivity Encancer, and Rockeby BioMed and Pacific Biotech for a licensing deal over the Rockeby Avian Influenza Virus and Influenza A antigen test kit.

The award for Best Supporting Role, sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, went to leading contract research firm Klifovet. The company succeeded against competition from the likes of Moredun, Triveritas, and lawyers Hogan and Hartson.

Hogan and Hartson themselves were the sponsors of the award for Achievement or Contribution by a Small Business, which went to UK company Genitrix Animal Health and Nutrition. Genitrix succeeded in a hotly contested category against competition from Guildhay, Karizoo and the Bioactive Division of Pancosma.

UK distribution specialist Centaur Services scooped the Best Manufacturing/Production Project Award for its application of 2D barcode technology, beating Alltech which entered its Sao Pedro do Ivai Yeast Production Facility, and Dow AgroSciences which entered its Plant-Made Vaccine breakthrough. The category was sponsored by MVP Laboratories and Animal Pharm editor Ben Deighton presented it on the company's behalf.

Indian Immunologicals' remarkable program to make cattle vaccination affordable and accessible to rural Indian farmers, Operation Pratirodh, won the Corporate Social Responsibility award, which was sponsored by Informa Life Sciences. Indian Immunologicals triumphed over strong competition from Pfizer Animal Health for its Corporate Social Responsibility Program, Neomec Project Shiksha and Polivet Journal, from Intas Pharmaceuticals. Judges described the programme as having the potential to bring practical health benefits to the largest national dairy herd in the world.

About Animal Pharm

Animal Pharm, published by Informa Healthcare, is a business-to-business news service and magazine for the veterinary pharmaceutical, vaccine, diagnostic and equipment industries.

    
    For more information:

    Helena Louring Jensen, Publisher, Animal Pharm
    Tel: +44-(0)20-7017-6995
    Mob: +44-(0)7971-608-239
    Email:Helena.Jensen@informa.com