London, UK – 22nd September, 2005 - Frost & Sullivan acclaimed leaders of the healthcare industry at its second Excellence in Healthcare Awards Banquet 2005 held yesterday in London.

At the Banquet, Frost & Sullivan honoured over twenty-five companies for their outstanding performance in a variety of regional and global healthcare markets. Award recipients were drawn from diverse areas including diagnostics, drug discovery technologies, medical devices, medical imaging, medical technologies, pharmaceuticals, and surgical devices.

In his keynote speech, Dorman Followwill, Partner and Global Vice President, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Frost & Sullivan, commented on the exciting future of the European healthcare market, saying, "Heroic providers combating the current regulatory morass together with data and technology advancements are boosting the healthcare markets. The long-term outlook is positive as investments in data and technology pay off, bringing a strong lift to the market even as provider infrastructure gradually builds up to equal patient need."

The awards banquet was preceded by a daylong seminar on ‘Entry Strategies into the Chinese Healthcare Market’ where a distinguished panel of experts touched upon ways to effectively penetrate China’s highly competitive healthcare market. The topics discussed included key growth opportunities and challenges; government incentives for foreign investments; intellectual property rights; legal and regulatory issues; lower cost medicines; cultural, economic, and political variables together with some instructive case studies.

Speakers at the seminar included Mr. Simon Rodwell (Director, Business Group, China-Britain Business Council); Mr. Stefan Astrom (Chief Executive Officer, Astrom Research International); Mr. Dirk De Langhe (Market Research Manager, Agfa Healthcare); Mr. Graham Thomas (Euro-Pacific Interface); Dr. Bernd Ohnesorge (Vice President, Computed Tomography (CT) Division, Marketing & Sales, Siemens Medical Solutions), Mr. Yushu Zhu, (ChinaMadePharm), and Mr. Dorman Followwill.

The seminar was followed by a CEO panel discussion on ‘Opportunities in Emerging Geographic Healthcare Markets’, which assessed significant long-term trends and growth prospects in developing healthcare markets. The distinguished panellists included Mr. Arni Alvar Arason, Vice President Sales & Marketing, Ossur), Mr. Luc Vandenbroucke (Senior Vice President Barco, President BarcoView), Mr. Paul Donnelly (Managing Director & President, Sterilox Technologies International Ltd.), and Dr. Bernd Ohnesorge.

Following the CEO panel discussion, participants, delegates, and guests attended the much–awaited awards ceremony where award recipients included:

• Degussa AG - 2004 Market Penetration Leadership Award
• Philips Medical Systems – 2005 Growth Strategy Leadership Award
• Membrana GmbH – 2005 Technology Innovation Award
• StorageTek - 2005 Market Penetration Leadership Award
• Smiths Medical – 2005 Customer Value Leadership Award
• Bio-Rad Laboratories – 2005 Product Innovation Award
• SAS – 2005 Business Development Strategy Leadership Award
• Royal Numico N.V. – 2005 Competitive Strategy Leadership Award
• Barco – 2005 Technology Innovation Award
• Epoka Medic Mission A/S - 2005 Entrepreneurial Company Award
• Philips Medical Systems - 2005 Customer Service Leadership Award
• MediCult A/S - 2005 Technology Innovation Award
• Siemens Medical Solutions - 2005 Customer Care Leadership Award
• BHT Hygienetechnik - 2005 Product Innovation Award
• Procognia - 2005 Competitive Strategy Leadership Award
• Sterilox Technologies International Limited - 2005 Technology Innovation Award
• Pepscan Systems B.V. - 2005 Entrepreneurial Company Award
• Telemed - 2005 Customer Value Award
• Draeger Medical AG & Co. KGaA - 2005 Brand Development Strategy Leadership Award
• Ciphergen - 2005 Technology Leadership Award
• Gambro - 2005 Customer Service Leadership Award
• Ossur - 2005 Medical Devices-Technology of the Year Award
• Barco - 2005 Medical Imaging-Growth Strategy Leadership of the Year Award
• Diagnostic Products Corporation - 2005 Clinical Diagnostic Technologies-Customer Service Innovation of the Year Award
• Siemens Medical Solutions - 2005 Medical Imaging-Enabling Technology of the Year Award
• AstraZeneca - 2005 Pharmaceutical Industry-Product of the Year Award
• Getinge AB - 2005 Hospital Infection Control Industry-Company of the Year Award
• Bio-Rad Laboratories - 2005 Drug Discovery Technologies-Market Leadership of the Year Award

Frost & Sullivan Awards are presented to companies that demonstrate best practices in their industry, commending the diligence, commitment, and innovative business strategies required to advance in the global marketplace. Frost & Sullivan rigorously analyses specific criteria to determine award recipients in a broad spectrum of market industries and landscapes.

Frost & Sullivan holds annual Awards Banquets for the information and communication technologies, industrial technologies, and healthcare industries. For further information on the Award Banquets or recipients or for digital photos, please contact Katja Feick, Corporate Communications, at +44 (0) 20 7915 78 56, katja.feick@frost.com.