HDMA fetes leading drug, consumer product makers at inaugural business leadership event

ORLANDO, Fla. The wholesale drug industry’s leading trade group tapped 10 pharmaceutical and consumer product manufacturers this week for its annual Distribution Industry Awards for Notable Achievements in Healthcare, also known as the DIANA awards.

The Healthcare Distribution Management Association unveiled the honors at its inaugural Business & Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., extending a tradition that dates back to the first DIANA awards presented in 1959. The 2010 winners, said HDMA president and CEO John Gray, “demonstrate an abiding commitment to innovation and collaboration.”

This year’s honors went to several large-scale and smaller pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as a drug packaging solutions provider. Said Gray, “These winning companies have shown creativity in introducing new products and services and establishing successful partnerships with their distributor peers in a way that benefits not just the healthcare supply chain but also the patient.”

Among the suppliers tapped for awards were Novo Nordisk, whose Victoza Expedited Distribution was named best new pharmaceutical product introduction in the branded category. Top honors for the best generic drug introduction went to Sandoz for its Tacrolimus product.

Among other winners:

• Rexam PLC, which received an award in the “Rx Support Systems, Supplies and Service Products” category for its lightweight sustainable prescription package;
• Novartis Consumer Health’s 24-hour Prevacid, which won for best new consumer product introduction; and
• Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Upsher-Smith Labs, Watson Labs, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Merck Consumer Care and Broadway Industries, which were awarded Best Overall Manufacturer awards.

Finalists for DIANA awards included Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Silarx Pharmaceuticals, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Zydus Pharmaceuticals USA, Covidien-Mallinckrodt, Salix Pharmaceuticals, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Forest Pharmaceuticals and Boehringer Ingelheim. Besides winning top honors in their respective categories, Novartis and Upsher-Smith also were finalists in two “Best Overall Manufacturer Awards” categories.

The 2010 DIANA judging panel is made up of HDMA distributor members. Best Overall Manufacturer winners were judged on such criteria as developing collaborative trading partner relationships to creating marketing programs that benefit the supply chain and an overall commitment to excellence. Best New Product Introduction or Promotion winners were selected based on such criteria as innovative marketing programs, market performance, promotional support and operational excellence, according to HDMA.