From incubation to immunotherapy Lifesavers recognised by The Economist’s Innovation Awards 2013
6 November 2013 - Award winners of the Bioscience and Social and Economic Innovation categories announced. - James Allison, Professor and Chair at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Immunology, was today named this year’s winner in the Bioscience category of The Economist’s Innovation Awards for his work on a pioneering cancer therapy. In the category of Social and Economic Innovation, four former students at Stanford University, Jane Chen, Rahul Panicker, Naganand Murty and Linus Liang, were named as the winners for their development of a low-cost incubator for use in developing countries.
Now in their 12th year, the Innovation Awards recognise significant contributions in eight fields: Bioscience, Computing and Telecommunications, Consumer Products, Energy and Environment, Process and Services, Social and Economic, No Boundaries and Corporate.
The Bioscience Award, sponsored by Astellas Pharma Europe, acknowledges Dr Allison’s life-changing contribution to the fight against cancer though his development of an “immune checkpoint blockade” therapy, called ipilimumab, which reactivates the body’s immune response to allow it to respond to a tumour that has evaded the immune system.
“The approval of ipilimumab in 2011 represents the culmination of years of research by Dr Allison into tumor immunotherapy,” said Tom Standage, Digital Editor at The Economist and chairman of the panel of 30 judges. “We are delighted to recognise his pioneering achievement in the fight against cancer.”
Ken Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of Astellas Pharma Europe, sponsors of this year’s Bioscience Award, said “despite enormous scientific breakthroughs, oncology remains one of the most challenging therapeutic areas, in which significant unmet medical need continues to exist. At Astellas, we rely on innovative thinking and practice to develop and distribute effective life-extending therapies, and Dr Allison’s achievements reaffirm the crucial importance of innovation as the lifeblood of the pharmaceutical industry. His pioneering work has not only transformed the field of immunology, but also prompted the clinical development of a new drug – the first of its kind to show survival benefit in patients suffering from advanced melanoma. Malignant melanoma is the 19th most common cancer worldwide, and the fifth most common cancer in the UK, and has an unusually high incidence among younger people; so the implications of Dr Allison’s research are enormous. We are delighted that The Economist Innovation Awards have chosen to honour a biomedical scientist who continues to innovate for the future.”
James Allison began his research career in 1978, focusing on cancer and the immune system. After years of studying why T-cells failed to recognise or attack certain cancer cells, Allison identified a molecule called CTLA-4 which suppressed the immune response. He developed an antibody against CTLA-4, called ipilimumab, which was approved in 2011 for use against metastatic melanoma. Ipilimumab blocks CTLA-4 and thus allows the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. About 25% of patients with late-stage metastatic melanoma who were treated with ipilimumab in clinical trials have lived for five years or longer, making it the first drug to improve the survival rate of such patients. Because this approach treats the immune system, not the tumor directly, it’s now in clinical trials for a variety of other cancers.
This year’s winners in the category of Social and Economic innovation — Jane Chen, Rahul Panicker, Naganand Murty and Linus Liang — met in 2007 in a Stanford University class called Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability. As part of a class assignment, they developed a low-cost incubator design in order to reduce neonatal deaths in rural areas in the developing world. According to the World Health Organisation, 20 million premature and low-birth-weight babies are born each year, four million of which die within the first four weeks of life – about 450 per hour. In rich countries, vulnerable babies unable to maintain their own body temperature are kept in incubators that can cost as much as $20,000, making them unaffordable in developing nations.
After travelling to Nepal and India, the team developed a simple, reliable design called the “Embrace Infant Warmer” which costs under $300. It resembles a sleeping bag and relies on phase-change material rather than electricity to provide heat, allowing it to be used in rural areas where mains electricity is not available. More than 20,000 babies in a dozen countries have already benefitted from its lifesaving design.
“This is a great example of how taking an entirely new approach to a problem, rather than scaling down an existing solution, can cut cost and complexity,” said Tom Standage. “We are thrilled to recognise what is literally an example of out-of-the-box thinking.”
The winners will be presented with their awards at a ceremony in London at BAFTA on the evening of December 3rd 2013.
Contact details
Rebecca Adewale, +44 (0)207 403 8878
e-mail: RebeccaA@rlyl.com
Christiana Ball, +44 (0)20 7576 8151
e-mail: christianaball@economist.com
About The Economist (www.economist.com)
With a growing global readership (now 4.5m) and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognised and well-read current affairs publications. The paper covers politics, business, science and technology, and books and arts, concluding each week with the obituary. Its website (www.economist.com) offers articles from the past ten years, in addition to web-only content such as blogs, debates and audio/video programmes. The Economist is now available to download for reading on Android, iPhone, or iPad devices.
About Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd.
Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., located in the UK, is the European headquarters of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceuticals. The organisation’s focus is to deliver outstanding R&D and marketing to continue growing in the world pharmaceutical market. Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. is responsible for 21 affiliate offices located across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, an R&D site and three manufacturing plants. The company employs approximately 4,350 staff across these regions. For more information about Astellas Pharma Europe, please visit www.astellas.eu.
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