Helsinn Supports the Conquer Cancer Foundation/Anna Braglia Endowed Young Investigator Award in Cancer Supportive Care With Research Funding Support For Promising Young Physicians

LUGANO, Switzerland, May 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Helsinn announces annual funding to help talented young physicians achieve their potential 

Helsinn, the Swiss pharmaceutical Group focused on building quality cancer care, is delighted to announce that it will honor the life of Anna Braglia, the wife of Helsinn Group Founder and Chairman Gabriele Braglia, and mother of Helsinn Group Vice Chairman and CEO Riccardo Braglia, with the Anna Braglia Endowed Young Investigator Award (YIA). This new annual award will be introduced at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting during the Conquer Cancer Foundation's Grants and Awards Ceremony on June 5. The first recipient will be awarded in 2017.

Helsinn has agreed to provide research funding support to the Conquer Cancer Foundation to assist a promising young physician in his or her transition from the final years of training to faculty appointment, and to encourage and promote quality research in supportive care. The award, granted annually, will be for $50,000.

Anna Braglia passed away in 2015. She was, from the very early years of Helsinn's foundation, and throughout her life, a constant source of support both for the Braglia family and for the Helsinn Group. With the creation of the award, it is Helsinn's intention to help encourage more aspiring physicians to move into all areas of oncology by supporting them as they move from academia into research.

For full eligibility requirements and application instructions, visit:

https://www.conquercancerfoundation.org/YIA

APPLICATION OPENS on July 1, 2016

Riccardo Braglia, Helsinn Group Vice Chairman and CEO, commented: "At Helsinn, we believe young people are key to the future of medical innovation and of our industry. This offers an opportunity for us to support the next generation as it moves through the critical transition from academic study into clinical research in oncology. We look forward to working with the Conquer Cancer Foundation and ASCO on this first award, and on future awards to come.

"My mother, Anna Braglia, played a huge contribution to the foundation and ongoing support of the Helsinn Group and, through this, to the development of cancer supportive care industry. She cared passionately both about encouraging high quality research in oncology and about fostering entrepreneurship. I am delighted that the Helsinn Group is able to honor her memory with this award."

"The Conquer Cancer Foundation is grateful and honored that Helsinn has joined an esteemed group of organizations and individuals committed to supporting the brightest minds in research by endowing a Young Investigator Award," said Nancy R. Daly, MS, MPH, Conquer Cancer Foundation Executive Vice President and Chief Philanthropic Officer. "This endowment honors the Foundation's mission of supporting breakthrough cancer research and Helsinn and Anna Braglia's vision of improving the quality of care for people living with cancer. It is this type of support that enables us to help translate research findings into real improvements in patients' lives and move us closer to a world free from the fear of cancer." 

About the Helsinn Group 

Helsinn is a privately owned cancer supportive care pharmaceutical group with an extensive portfolio of marketed products and a broad development pipeline. Since 1976, Helsinn has been improving the everyday lives of patients, guided by core family values of respect, integrity and quality, through a unique integrated licensing business model working with long standing partners in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and nutritional supplement products. Helsinn is headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, with operating subsidiaries in Ireland and the US, a representative office in China, as well as a product presence in about 90 countries globally.

For more information, please visit http://www.helsinn.com

For more information, please contact:
Helsinn Group
Paola Bonvicini
Head of Communication & Press Office
Tel: +41 91-985-21-21
info-hhc@helsinn.com