NEW YORK, July 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Population Council and Sheldon Segal, distinguished scientist at the organization, will receive the Prix Galien USA 2008 Pro Bono Humanum Award
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(http://www.prix-galien-usa.com) for spearheading a preeminent coalition between academic, private, philanthropic and industrial organizations that made possible the development and distribution of implantable hormone delivery systems, such as Norplant(R), that are used by more than 8 million women worldwide.
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The award also will recognize other coalition members the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the late Judah Folkman of Harvard University, Dow-Corning and Wyeth. The award will be presented September 24, 2008, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The Pro Bono Humanum Award will honor the Population Council and Segal for five decades of a science-based global effort in support of reproductive health and family planning, especially in underdeveloped or underserved populations. This initiative was critical in establishing a coalition to create Norplant(R)(levonorgestrel implants) and related hormone delivery systems, which came as the result of basic biomedical discovery and translational research and was put into practice thanks to the waiving of proprietary patent rights for the Population Council.
"The significance of Norplant(R) is more than convenient birth control," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Prix Galien USA committee chair, New York University professor emeritus and editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal. "Norplant(R), and devices like it, allows people with limited access to health care to obtain tools for effective family planning, which were once inaccessible yet necessary and life-changing for women worldwide."
The Prix Galien USA Award (http://www.prix-galien-usa.com) recognizes the technical, scientific and clinical research skills necessary to develop innovative medicines that improve the human condition, and is considered the industry's highest accolade for pharmaceutical research and development -- equivalent to the Nobel Prize. Last year's inaugural awards recognized Dr. Roy Vagelos with a Pro Bono Humanum Award for his historic decision to donate Mectizan to more than 530 million people in 34 countries to treat and prevent river blindness. Other winners of 2007 Prix Galien awards include Merck & Co., Inc. in the categories of best pharmaceutical agent (Januvia) and best biotechnology product (Gardasil); Pfizer, Inc. for best pharmaceutical agent (Chantix); and Abbott (Humira) for best biotechnology product.
SOURCE Prix Galien Foundation
