Bloom Burton has announced Roberto Bellini, former president and CEO of BELLUS Health, acquired by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (LSE/NYSE:GSK) in 2023, as the recipient of the 2024 Bloom Burton Award given annually to honor an individual who had made significant contributions to Canada’s innovative healthcare industry in the previous year.
In a statement, Jolyon Burton, president and head of investment banking at Bloom Burton, said, “Roberto Bellini is being honoured for his extraordinary leadership at BELLUS Health. He led the advancement of camlipixant into a global phase 3 program and, later, the acquisition of BELLUS Health by GSK for US$2 billion. Despite a Phase 2 study setback for camlipixant in 2020, Roberto and his team persisted, attracted the capital to design and execute a second and ultimately successful Phase 2b trial that confirmed camlipixant as a potential best-in-class treatment option for refractory chronic cough.”
All finalists, including Mr. Bellini, Tom Frohlich, formerly of Chinook Therapeutics, and François Ravenelle, formerly of Inversago Pharma, were celebrated at the 2024 Bloom Burton Award Gala in Toronto.
