The Galien Foundation Announces 2026 Prix Galien Bridges Awards Nominees and Recipient of the Bengt I. Samuelsson "True North" Award

• Annual awards ceremony honoring groundbreaking innovations, scientific integrity, and cross-border biopharma collaboration across the Nordics+ region will take place December 1, 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden
• Björn Odlander, MD, PhD, Founder and Managing Partner of HealthCap, selected as the recipient of the Bengt I. Samuelsson "True North" Award

NEW YORK and STOCKHOLM, Nov. 9, 2026 — The Galien Foundation, the premier global institution dedicated to honoring innovators in life sciences, today announced the nominees for the annual Prix Galien Bridges Awards alongside the recipient of the Bengt I. Samuelsson "True North" Award. The formal awards ceremony, which follows the annual Prix Galien Bridges Forum, will take place on December 1, 2026, at the Medicinska Föreningen at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

Through the Prix Galien Bridges initiative, The Galien Foundation builds bridges between the Nordic region and five strategic partner countries (Austria, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain), which together form the Nordics+ ecosystem. The initiative spotlights the region's distinctive strengths and fosters cross-border partnerships that strengthen the science base and attract investment in breakthrough therapeutics and accelerate health innovation.

The Awards Ceremony follows the Prix Galien Bridges Forum, held earlier that day at the Nobel Forum. This year's theme, "More/Better Life? Wisdom Beyond the Hype," asks how a region with some of the world's oldest populations, richest health registries, and strongest prevention cultures should respond to the promise of longevity science: what it can credibly deliver, who should benefit from the region's health data, and where the Nordics+ should lead and invest.

The recipient of this year's Bengt I. Samuelsson "True North" Award is Björn Odlander, MD, PhD, Founder and Managing Partner of HealthCap, a Stockholm-based venture capital firm established in 1996 that invests globally in life sciences. The award honors those who carry forward Professor Samuelsson's example of scientific rigor, humility, and mentorship, and Dr. Odlander's career began in that tradition: trained as a physician, he pursued research in the biochemistry of inflammation in Professor Samuelsson's laboratory at Karolinska Institutet. In 1996 he co-founded HealthCap, which has since helped bring numerous new medicines and medical technologies to patients worldwide.

"This year's nominees range from innovative new treatments for rare diseases to tools that make whole health systems work better, from single labs to collaborations spanning continents," said Mikael Dolsten, MD, PhD, Chair of the Prix Galien Bridges Committee. "Learning the journeys behind these nominations has been a privilege for our jury, and we are grateful to every team that chose to put its work forward and let it showcase the innovation and ingenuity of the 'Nordics+'. We are proud to celebrate these nominees alongside Björn Odlander, who receives the Bengt I. Samuelsson True North Award."

The 2026 Prix Galien Bridges Awards include 45 nominees and products across the following categories: "Best Pharmaceutical Agent," "Best Biotechnology Product," "Best Product for Rare/Orphan Diseases," "Best Medical Technology / AI Advances in Human Health," "Best Enabling Technology for Medical Innovation," "Best Public Sector Innovation," and "Best Bridge-Builder Institution."

To qualify, each candidate must demonstrate a significant advancement or novel approach that meaningfully improves patient outcomes, healthcare delivery, or scientific understanding. Eligible innovations should exemplify the strengths of the Nordic innovation ecosystem or foster collaboration with partner countries—Austria, Israel, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. Consideration is also given to the potential of the innovation to influence future scientific development, establish new paradigms, or create platforms for continued progress in the life sciences.

Best Pharmaceutical Agent (Nominees)

Bayer AG	BEYONTTRA® (acoramidis)
Innoviva Specialty Therapeutics and GARDP	NUZOLVENCE® (zoliflodacin)

Best Biotechnology Product (Nominees)

F. Hoffmann-La Roche	Vabysmo®
BioArctic	Leqembi
Gilead Sciences AB	Yeytuo® (lenacapavir)
Galderma	Relfydess®
Sun Pharma	UNLOXCYT® (cosibelimab-ipdl)

Best Product for Rare/Orphan Diseases (Nominees)

Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.	Elfabrio®
F. Hoffmann-La Roche	EVRYSDI®
Krystal Biotech	Vyjuvek
Immunocore	KIMMTRAK (tebentafusp)

Best Medical Technology / AI Advances in Human Health (Nominees)

Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG	VDZ-CDST Calculator in CD (Vedolizumab Clinical Decision Support Tool Calculator in Crohn's Disease), Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)
MyPsy	MyPsychAdmin
Foundation Medicine, Inc.	FoundationOne® MRD (performed by SAGA Diagnostics US, Inc.)
Paindrainer AB®	PD Care System / Relivra
Grifols	Grifols sCD38
Roche Diagnostics	cobas® i 601
Clinigma	Clinigma Portal
Smartcella AB	Extroducer
LynxCare	cNLP-Enriched EU Real-World Data Platform

Best Enabling Technology for Medical Innovation (Nominees)

Remepy	Remepy Hybrid Drug Platform
Mavatar	Mavatar Discovery - the biological intelligence layer for better-informed R&D decision.
Genmab	DuoBody®
Radboud University Medical Centre	AV3 — A Peptidomimetic Platform for Precision Cancer Targeting
DFE Pharma/INTO	Development and In Vivo Evaluation of an Inhalable Spray-Dried Powder for Systemic Delivery of Semaglutide
LONZA AG	GS Ori-Go®
Cradle	CRADLE-1

Best Public Sector Innovation (Nominees)

NeoNexus Healthcare Pvt Ltd	Project Phoenix
Sanome™	MEMORI
Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (SII)	Cy-Tb (SIILTIBCY)
HISP Centre, University of Oslo	DHIS2
Lygature on behalf of the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium	Arpraziquantel
Bavarian Nordic	JYNNEOS (marketed as IMVANEX in the EU)

Best Bridge-Builder Institution (Nominees)

Future of Health (FOH)

Bayer AG

Foresight Research Ltd.

Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Oslo University Hospital

Innoviva, Inc.

Owkin

Global Health EDCTP3

Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A.

Medicon Valley Alliance

Centre for Research Equity, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford

Technion Tech Transfer Office (TRDF) featured by NurExone Biologic Inc

Bruno Cohen, Chairman of The Galien Foundation, commented, "Building meaningful bridges across scientific borders is essential to accelerating discoveries that transform human health. As we celebrate our 2026 nominees and champions of scientific integrity, The Galien Foundation remains dedicated to uniting visionary researchers, institutions, and leaders behind a shared mission: advancing medicine for every community we serve."

Prix Galien Bridges Committee 2026

Mikael DOLSTEN, MD, PhD
Member, Prix Galien USA; Board Member, SOBI, Agilent Technologies, Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Chai Discovery, BenchSci, Immunai, Enveda Biosciences, Element Bio, and Varda Space (Chair)

María José ALONSO, MD, PhD
Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Santiago de Compostela

Alon CHEN, PhD
President, Weizmann Institute of Science

Emma GUTTMAN-YASSKY, MD, PhD
Chair, Kimberly & Eric J. Waldman Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Mansoor MIRZA, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc.

Aarno PALOTIE, MD, PhD
Research Director of Human Genomics, Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland

Erik RENSTRÖM, PhD
Vice Chancellor, Lund University

John-Arne RØTTINGEN, MD, PhD
CEO, Wellcome

Veronika SEXL, MD, PhD
Rector, University of Innsbruck

Kári STEFANSSON, MD, PhD
Founder, deCODE genetics; Professor of Medicine, University of Iceland

Carl Johan SUNDBERG, MD, PhD
Professor & Vice President, Karolinska Institutet Nord

Media Contact: 
Kara Bradley
Finn Partners
[email protected]
646-213-7243

SOURCE The Galien Foundation