Greece is Shortlisted: European Health Award 2014

Six cutting-edge projects are in the running for the prestigious €10,000 European Health Award 2014, sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health and FOPI, which brings together Austria's research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The winner will be chosen by a panel of leading health experts, and announced during the 17th EHFG Conference, being held in the Gastein Valley.

The European Health Award honours projects and initiatives aiming to improve public health or health care in Europe. Important criteria are that more than one European country should be involved in the project, it should show innovation and be sustainable, and that the results are transferable to other states and address a significant health threat that directly benefits a substantial portion of the population or relatively large patient groups.

The top 10 best-selling multiple sclerosis drugs of 2013

Want a surefire way to shake up a drug market? Introduce new medication options that make it easier for patients to manage their disease. MS drugmakers would know; their market is all of a sudden full of them.

For one, a game-changing trio of pills is providing an alternative to injections. Novartis' ($NVS) Gilenya hit first in September 2010, followed by Sanofi's ($SNY) Aubagio and Biogen Idec's ($BIIB) Tecfidera. Two of those three, Gilenya and Tecfidera, nabbed spots on our list of Top 15 drug launch superstars after hitting the ground running. They're primed to keep moving up the food chain, too.

Then, there are new, long-acting meds like the 40-mg version of best-seller Copaxone, which hit the market just in time for maker Teva ($TEVA) to start converting patients ahead of a bumped-up May patent expiration. With a Supreme Court appeal in its patent case set to begin soon, Teva's seeing patients switch over to the new formula--injected thrice weekly, as opposed to daily--at a rate that has so far both surprised and impressed analysts. Biogen Idec, too, recently snagged the FDA's favor for its own long-lasting med, a follow-up to Avonex--dubbed Plegridy--that requires injection only once every two weeks.

Drugmakers are looking for more subtle yet significant ways to make their MS meds more attractive to patients, too. Take Biogen's Avonex Pen, for instance, green-lighted by the FDA the year before last. The Massachusetts biotech billed it as the first "intramuscular autoinjector" approved for MS and one it hoped would reduce "injection anxiety" and "pain."

1. Copaxone
2. Avonex
3. Rebif
4. Gilenya
5. Tysabri
6. Betaseron/Betaferon
7. Tecfidera
8. Ampyra
9. H.P. Acthar Gel
10. Aubagio