Microsoft Announces Call for Entries for the 2008 Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation Awards

Awards recognize Microsoft-based solutions in discovery and product innovation, sales and marketing, manufacturing and supply chain, and clinical development.

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. today announced the call for entries for the 2008 Microsoft Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Innovation Awards, recognizing breakthroughs in the use of Microsoft technology in four categories.

Awarded annually, this year’s competition will recognize the positive impact that new and innovative technologies are delivering in the areas of discovery and product innovation, sales and marketing, manufacturing and supply chain, and clinical development. Pharmaceutical and life sciences corporations worldwide are eligible, including those in the areas of biotechnology, diagnostics, medical equipment, animal health, nutritional products and consumer health products.

An award will be presented in each category to eligible pharmaceutical or life sciences corporations that best demonstrate leadership in improving business operations through deployment of Microsoft technologies. Implementations for consideration must include the use of BizTalk Server, the Microsoft Office system, Microsoft SQL Server or other Microsoft technology.

The award categories and judging criteria include these:
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Discovery and Product Innovation. This award recognizes technological innovation that enhances a pharmaceutical or life sciences corporation’s ability to quickly deliver safer and more efficacious products to the market by reducing complexity, lowering cost, and enhancing the speed and quality of the discovery process.
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Sales and Marketing. This award recognizes technological innovation that enhances a pharmaceutical or life sciences corporation’s ability to inform and educate physicians and healthcare professionals, consumers, and even insurance and benefits plan providers about the benefits, value and safety of the pharmaceutical and healthcare offerings produced.
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Manufacturing and Supply Chain. This award recognizes the use of innovative technology to improve a pharmaceutical or life sciences corporation’s ability to expedite delivery of products to consumers by reducing complexity and costs, improving productivity, and enhancing product life-cycle management, compliance, safety, quality and speed to use through advancements in manufacturing and supply chain.
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Clinical Development. The winner in this category will be the pharmaceutical or life sciences company demonstrating innovative use of Microsoft technologies in drug development, biotechnology, medical and diagnostic devices, or animal health and consumer health products resulting in the company’s ability to improve time to market as well as quality during the process of conducting clinical trials, analysis and submission.

Awards Schedule

Entries must be submitted by 5 p.m. PDT Monday, May 5, 2008. Microsoft will announce the winners at the DIA annual meeting in Boston in June 2008. An entry kit and full details are available on the Microsoft Life Sciences Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/lifesciences under the Events & Webcasts section. To enter, participants should download the entry form and e-mail their completed applications to lsia@microsoft.com. More information about the awards can be obtained by contacting Monika Skibeness at (425) 870-4880.

About Microsoft in Health and Life Sciences

Microsoft provides standards-based products and technology to help the healthcare and life sciences industries break down information barriers between the disparate IT environments across pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, physicians and healthcare professionals, provider organizations, government and private-sector employers, health insurers, and consumers. Microsoft’s vision for knowledge-driven health utilizes the company’s market-leading technology to help people in the healthcare provider, payer and life sciences organizations integrate their systems, dramatically enhance collaboration, and increase information sharing and learning — ultimately resulting in the ability to deliver high-quality products and services to patients and consumers worldwide. More information about Microsoft in the Life Sciences Industry can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/lifesciences.