CSL Behring Announces 2012 Interlaken Leadership Awards Recipients

Awards Recognize Scientists Pioneering the Study and Advancement of Immunoglobulin Therapy for Neurologic Disorders

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Feb 15, 2012, 08:30 ET

INTERLAKEN, Switzerland, Feb. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CSL Behring announced today the four recipients of the 2012 Interlaken Leadership Awards. Now in its second year, the Interlaken Leadership Awards program recognizes scientists whose proposals are likely to advance innovative medical research and knowledge about the potential role of immunoglobulin therapy in the treatment of neurologic disorders. The total value of the four awards is estimated to be more than $1 million USD.

CSL Behring created the Interlaken Leadership Awards program to support research designed to identify new potential clinical applications for polyvalent immunoglobulins, with the goal of improving the lives of patients who have disabling neurologic conditions.

The winners of the 2012 Interlaken Leadership Awards are:

Cindy Shin-Yi Lin, PhD
University of New South Wales, Australia
Nerve Excitability Substudy of Polyneuropathy and Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin Treatment in Patients with CIDP
Milan Basta, M.D., PhD
BioVisions, Inc., United States
IVIG in Acute Ischemic Stroke
Cory Toth, M.D.
University of Calgary, Canada
A Cross-Over Study of SCIG Therapy for Early Onset of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathic Pain
Josep Gamez, M.D., PhD
Hospital General Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Spain
Intravenous Immunoglobulin for Preparing Myasthenia Gravis Patients for Thymectomy and Other Surgical Procedures Preventing Myasthenic Crisis

"Neurologic conditions, such as those being studied by these investigators, can be debilitating for patients and have a negative impact on their quality of life," said Jeffrey Baggish, M.D., Director of Medical Affairs, Immunology & Pulmonary at CSL Behring. "These scientists' efforts to advance innovative research into the potential role of immunoglobulin therapy for neurologic disorders could lead to the discovery of new treatment options that may improve the lives of patients, an undertaking CSL Behring is proud to support."

The recipients of the Interlaken Leadership Awards were selected by a global, cross-functional CSL Behring review committee. The committee evaluated recipients based on scientific merit, strength of hypothesis, relevance to neuroimmunology and research feasibility.

About the International Immunoglobulin Symposium in Interlaken

For more than three decades, CSL Behring has sponsored a high-level scientific symposium in Interlaken, Switzerland. First held in 1981, and most recently in 2009, the International Immunoglobulin Symposium focuses exclusively on scientific and clinical research in the field of polyvalent immunoglobulins.

Research presented at the Interlaken symposium is consistently at the forefront of immunoglobulin research. Since its inception, the International Immunoglobulin Symposium has won the respect and support of top international scientists and clinicians from many different fields of research. For more information, please visit: http://www.interlakenleadershipawards.com/symposium.aspx.

About CSL Behring

CSL Behring is a leader in the plasma protein therapeutics industry. Committed to saving lives and improving the quality of life for people with rare and serious diseases, the company manufactures and markets a range of plasma-derived and recombinant therapies worldwide. CSL Behring therapies are indicated for the treatment of coagulation disorders including hemophilia and von Willebrand disease, primary immune deficiencies, hereditary angioedema and inherited respiratory disease. The company's products are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, burn treatment and to prevent hemolytic diseases in newborns. CSL Behring operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks, CSL Plasma. CSL Behring is a subsidiary of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. For more information, visit www.cslbehring.com.

Media Contacts:
Greg Healy
Commercial Operations, CSL Behring
610-878-4841
[email protected]

Etanjalie Ayala
Weber Shandwick
212-445-8225
[email protected]

SOURCE CSL Behring