Hungarian Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology
announces the call for applications for the
“Drug of the Year 2025”
Award
In 1996, the Society established the “Drug of the Year” award. The award consists of a large bronze relief created by the Szentendre-based artist Tamás Asszonyi, accompanied by a certificate. By creating this trademarked award, the Society intended to use its professional prestige to promote the widespread adoption in Hungary of the most modern, effective and patient-friendly medicinal products, as well as the introduction of new therapeutic procedures.
Application Requirements
- Eligibility:
Companies registered in Hungary as pharmaceutical manufacturers and/or distributors that are Platinum-level Supporting Members of the Society are eligible to apply. Information regarding supporting membership is available on the Society’s website).
- Categories:
Applications may be submitted in three categories (“medicinal product”, “drug–medical device combination”, and “innovative follow-on medicinal product”). Eligible products must hold a marketing authorisation in the EU and/or Hungary issued between 1 January 2020 and 1 January 2025.
- Application content:
The application must include the essential data related to the medicinal product or combination product on the basis of which the competent authority granted marketing authorisation, as well as a brief summary of any new information acquired since then.
Please indicate the registration and marketing authorisation number and issuance date. Applicants must also state whether the product has been admitted to reimbursement by the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund. Relevant scientific references should be attached.
- Summary document:
Applicants are requested to submit a separate attached file (A4, 2–4 pages) summarising why the medicinal product or combination product represents a significant advancement in its therapeutic area (see detailed evaluation criteria).
- Submission:
Applications must be submitted electronically as a single signed PDF file to [email protected] and [email protected].
Please use the subject line: “Drug of the year 2025”.
- Evaluation procedure:
The Executive Board of the Society will appoint a Review Committee, which will prepare an expert opinion after consulting external experts. Based on this opinion, the Executive Board will propose the award recipient to the General Assembly through a secret ballot. External experts involved must not have any employment or contractual relationship with pharmaceutical companies registered in Hungary.
- Evaluation criteria (compared with competitor products when relevant):
- Novelty of the mechanism of action
- In case of new indications/repositioning: novelty of the mechanism in the new indication
- Breakthrough nature of the chemical and/or biological and/or engineering scientific discovery
- The drug, drug–device combination, or innovative follow-on product (e.g., biosimilar) fills an unmet need in Hungary
- Favourable side-effect and interaction profile
- Favourable metabolism and pharmacokinetic properties
- Improved therapeutic efficacy
- Cost-effective and user-friendly formulation
- Added value from Hungarian R&D (preclinical and clinical studies)
- Domestic market performance
- Awarding:
The Society reserves the right to suspend awarding the prize in any given year.
After the official award ceremony, the winner is entitled to use one of the following titles, depending on the category:
- “Drug of the Year 2025”
- “Drug of the Year 2025 – Drug–Medical Device Combination Category”
- “Drug of the Year 2025 – Innovative Follow-On Medicine Category”
- Submission deadline: 30 January 2026
- Announcement of results: April 2026
The official award ceremony will be jointly organised by the Society and the awarded company/companies during the Society’s annual international conference HUPHAR2026, held in Mátraháza, 3–5 June 2026.
