The co-founders of Tipperary-based cancer drug company Shorla Oncology were named as EY Entrepreneurs of the Year at the annual awards ceremony in Powerscourt Hotel in Co Wicklow on Thursday evening.
Sharon Cunningham and Orlaith Ryan, who also won best emerging entrepreneurs at the gala event, founded the company in 2014 with a focus on rare, orphan and paediatric cancers.
It has reformulated certain cutting-edge treatments to make them easier to use for their target patients, including a children’s cancer drug, which it redeveloped from a difficult to swallow capsule to an oral solution.
Shorla has a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products, including four drugs approved by the Federal Drug Administration in the US.
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Speaking to The Irish Times at the Powerscourt Hotel on Thursday, Ms Ryan said the award was “validation” and a “culmination of all the eight years we have been in business”. Ms Cunningham said it was “recognition” of the Shorla “team” and its “efforts, of them going above and beyond every day”.
Ms Ryan said the company has recently received “several approvals of drugs” that Shorla is preparing to launch in the new year.
[ Ivor Queally wins International Entrepreneur of the Year at EY awardsOpens in new window ]
Earlier this year, Ms Cunningham and Ms Ryan told The Irish Times that Shorla has raised a total of $45 million to expand its pipeline of treatments. This includes a 2020 Series A investment round, led by Dublin-based venture capital firm Seroba Life Sciences, whose other portfolio companies include Endotronix and Atlantic Therapeutics.
Previously, the company won the overall award at the Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition in 2019 and its founders were included on a list of 50 people to watch out for in 2020 by The Irish Times.
Ms Cunningham and Ms Ryan will now represent Ireland at the EY world Entrepeneur of the Year awards next year.
Other winners on Thursday night included Ivor Queally, chief executive of QK Group South Africa, one of the largest meat processors and cold storage groups in southern Africa, who was named best international entrepreneur.
Mr Queally thanked his father, Dawn Meats co-founder Peter Queally, who died last year, aged 82.
“I think he’s up there looking down,” he told The Irish Times. “I think he’s incredibly proud of what we’ve managed to achieve in South Africa the last 20 years. He’s been an incredible mentor. He’s been a part of that journey. He’s been there to pick me up when I’ve fallen and to give me a kick in the arse and get on with it again.”
Ruth, David and John Mackey, the siblings behind Mbryronics, a Galway company that develops space laser systems for satellite communications, won best established entrepreneurs.
Ruth Mackey, the company’s chief science and chief operating officer, said the award was “recognition” of the fact that they and the Irish space tech industry continues to “punch above its weight” globally.
Meanwhile, Duncan O’Toole, founder of renewable energy trading and consulting company Captured Carbon, won a special sustainability award at the event in the Powerscourt Hotel.
Former taoiseach Enda Kenny also received a special recognition award at the annual gala event on Thursday, which marked the awards programme’s 27th year in Ireland.
“On behalf of EY, I extend my warmest congratulations to this year’s award winners,” said Roger Wallace, EY partner lead for the EoY programme.
“These inspiring business leaders embody true entrepreneurial spirit in their daily endeavours – from pioneering innovative concepts to demonstrating unwavering passion and commitment in their remarkable businesses.”
Harry Hughes, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 and chair of the judging panel, said the finalists “represent an exceptional group of dynamic business leaders”.
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