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AstraZeneca wins Sir James Black Award for breast cancer therapy

A team from AstraZeneca has been named the winner of the 2025 Sir James Black Award by the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) for its development of a treatment for a specific type of advanced breast cancer.

The Sir James Black Award recognises and celebrates the achievements of teams of scientists who discover new drugs, and highlights how crucial pharmacology is in the development of new medicines.  This year’s winner is an oral AKT inhibitor developed for use with a selective estrogen receptor degrader.

Michael Spedding, Industry Trustee and member of the BPS Industry Sub-committee, said:

This award recognises the very best achievements in drug discovery, and the committee was unanimous that this innovation both embodies the potential of precision medicine and the value of integrating pre-clinical and clinical pharmacology to develop combination strategies. The Society is proud to highlight this achievement and is greatly looking forward to welcoming the team at this year’s annual meeting, Pharmacology 2025.

The Sir James Black Award recognises the critical translation of pioneering pharmacology into tangible patient impact. We are absolutely delighted to announce that the award-winning AstraZeneca team will be sharing their insights at Pharmacology 2025! Hear directly from the experts behind the science, secure your place now to be part of the conversation! 


Prizes and awards Drug discovery & development Oncology

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