Asia Pacific's Finest Healthcare Players Recognised

Business Wire, June 13, 2008

21 Companies Honored at the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Healthcare Banquet

SINGAPORE -- Recognising the best-in-class companies for their innovation and perseverance, Frost & Sullivan today hosted the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Healthcare Awards banquet. Held for the third consecutive year, thirty-eight most sought after titles were conferred to the deserving recipients in field of medical devices, clinical research organisations (CROs), healthcare technologies, pharmaceuticals and healthcare services. The evening of achievement and celebration saw the who's who from the regional and local healthcare industry besides the CEOs and senior management representatives from the award recipient companies.

Ms. Reenita Das, Senior Vice-President for the Healthcare practice at Frost & Sullivan, says, "Asia Pacific continues to be one of the fastest growing healthcare markets globally. The region contributes close to 18 percent of the global revenues and we project this number to reach close to 25 percent in 2010.

"Through the Awards we aim to recognise companies who have demonstrated excellence in products, service and technology to remain competitive in the market and emerge as market leaders," she highlights.

Over 35 prominent companies across the healthcare industry operating in different countries in the region were short listed as top challengers and appraised for their performance in financial year 2007. Of these, 21 illustrious companies made the 'A-list' of award recipients. This year was exceptional with companies like Roche Diagnostics, Abbott Diabetes Care and Siemens Medical not only defending their titles but also adding several others to their fame.

Roche Diagnostics took the center stage at the banquet by receiving the 2008 Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose Market Leadership Award for Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand. In addition, the 2008 Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose Devices Product Quality Award for South Korea and Thailand was also claimed by Roche Diagnostics. Not far behind was Philips Healthcare which dominated the Imaging category. It bagged two market leadership Awards for Australia and Malaysia ultra-sound markets and three customer service leadership Awards for Singapore, Malaysia and Australia markets.

These outstanding organisations were not alone in their feat of snapping up titles in more than one category. They were joined by Siemens Medical, Abbott Diabetes Care and AGFA Healthcare who walked away with at least 2 awards in Healthcare IT, Medical Devices, and Imaging categories.

On one hand the multi-national giants rejoiced in their achievement of attaining excellence in a handful of countries, while on the other, there were home-grown names who shared the spot-light with them. Parkway Health illustrated that it was on par with these global trendsetters with 2 awards under its wings. The Singapore-based private healthcare service provider which has over 15 operations around Asia received the 2008 South East Asia Private Hospital Group Market Penetration Award and the 2008 South East Asia Private Hospital Group Market Leadership Award in the South East Asia Hospital category.

In the CRO category, Excel PharmaStudies clinched two titles namely the 2008 Clinical Research Organization of the Year and the 2008 Asia Pacific Asian Clinical Services Provider of the Year, while Quintiles bagged the coveted Asia Pacific Multinational Clinical Services Provider of the Year Award for the second year in a row.

This year a category on the Physician's Choice Awards has been introduced in the excellence in healthcare program. With an aim to illustrate the standing of healthcare organisations in the eyes of the very community they service, the 2008 Physicians Choice Awards' recipients are selected by the physicians themselves based on their experience with these organisations. Launched in Malaysia, this year, over 70 physicians responded to the questionnaire designed by Frost & Sullivan for the survey.

Under this category, a total of four Awards were given, of which, Merck Sharpe & Dome claimed two Awards namely, 2008 Malaysian Physician's Choice Award for Customer Service Leadership and the 2008 Malaysian Physician's Choice Award for Customer Value Leadership. Also a home-grown success was not to be outdone as Pharmaniaga Berhad, Malaysia's largest integrated local healthcare company received the 2008 Domestic Pharmaceutical Company of the Year, while, Pfizer's Malaysia operation was named as the 2008 Multinational Pharmaceutical Company of the Year.

"Frost & Sullivan is pleased to recognize the leaders in the Asia Pacific healthcare industry through its highly coveted annual Excellence in Healthcare Awards. Companies across nations have strived to bring out their best and stay ahead of competition. In the past three years, we have seen home-grown companies operating on par with the global giants and this trend is likely to continue in future," adds Ms. Das.

The celebrated recipients go through a detailed evaluation process that starts with a short-listing of organisations by Frost & Sullivan's expert analyst team via an in-depth and independent research on the organisations' market performance. Information on each company is then consolidated and a competitive matrix is prepared for judging. An independent panel of judges further deliberates the findings of the analyst team to decide on the most deserving award recipient. For complete list of the outstanding recipients of the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Healthcare Awards please refer - http://www.healthcare-awards.com/award.html.>