The award, which celebrates the importance of pharmacology in the development of new medicines, was presented to the vismodegib team because of the detailed pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis that was completed during the drug development process. Vismodegib is currently approved in the US and Mexico for the treatment of adults with an advanced form of the common skin cancer basal cell carcinoma.

Vismodegib works by selectively targeting and blocking abnormal signals in a pathway involved in regulating growth and development in the early stages of life (the Hedgehog signalling pathway). As a person matures, the Hedgehog signalling pathway normally becomes less active, working only to maintain or repair tissue. However in some people malfunctions or abnormal activation occurs; such abnormal activation has been shown to play an important role in the development of certain types of cancer.

Rick Graham,  Clinical Pharmacologist and acting Global Development Leader for vismodegib at Genentech, commented, “We are very proud that our understanding of the Hedgehog signalling pathway enabled us to develop a medicine which today is providing meaningful benefit to patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma.”

Nearly all (90 percent) advanced basal cell carcinoma lesions demonstrate abnormal activation of the Hedgehog signalling pathway, and in both a clinical and real world setting, treatment with vismodegib has been shown to provide significant clinical benefit and to set a new standard of care for patients with this potentially disfiguring and debilitating disease.

The British Pharmacological Society’s Drug Discovery of the Year award celebrates the importance of pharmacology in the development of new medicines. The winning team was selected by a judging panel of experts in industrial pharmacology, following nominations made to BPS by its members worldwide.