Pharmacist wins Prix Galien award 'equivalent to Nobel Prize’

A Bradford pharmacist who was part of a University of Oxford team that worked on clinical trials during the pandemic has won an award equivalent to the Nobel Prize.
Dr Mahendra Patel OBE won the Prix Galien Best Public Sector Innovation Award 2024 for his part as the black, asian and minority ethnic community pharmacy lead in the Principle and Panoramic clinical trial teams at Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.
The Principle and Panoramic clinical trials “significantly accelerated the evaluation of potential treatments for COVID-19 in community settings”.
Patel said it was a “team award” but was happy to represent pharmacists in an award “equivalent to the Nobel Prize in clinical pharmaceutical research”.
“Having pharmacists present on that platform is amazing. Playing a national leading role within those trials and to be recognized as part of the team is huge, but also for our profession and for other professions to recognise our skill set and the opportunity that pharmacists bring to research,” he added.
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The Prix Galien was created in 1970 by pharmacist Roland Mehl “to promote the advances in pharmaceutical research” and the awards are held in 15 European countries.
The UK awards are held biennially as it is “regarded as the highest accolade for biomedical research and development” according to The Galien Foundation.
Patel helped to recruit people from ethnic minority backgrounds for the trials by working with pharmacies, including the multiples Boots, Lloyds, and Superdrug, who put posters up about the trials.
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He went on Punjabi TV channel Kanshi TV in Birmingham to tell the community about the trials as well.
Co-Chief Investigator of the Principle and Panoramic trials Professor Chris Butler said the department is “thrilled to receive this prestigious award, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team”.
“Helped reduce health inequalities”
The Principle trial in March 2020 evaluated existing medicines to be repurposed in treatment of COVID-19 in older people and those underlying health conditions.
Then in December 2021, the Panoramic trial launched to assess “the effectiveness of novel antiviral treatments in reducing the severity of symptoms and preventing hospitalisations”, the university department said.
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The award comes as the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) published a report earlier this month (August 8) on the key recommendations following the Panoramic trial.
It highlighted the role community pharmacies played during the pandemic as Patel said “8,500 community pharmacies” helped with recruitment for trials from “undeserved communities which is traditionally low” and “ultimately helped to reduce health inequalities”.
He added that this role should continue for future pandemic planning as “pharmacy is a channel that we need to look at more carefully in building research strategies”.
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