The winners of the 2024 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Award have been revealed.
In a ceremony held at Hinxton Hall Conference Centre, on the world famous Wellcome Genome Campus, winners and highly commended finalists were named across a host of sectors, from medtech to AI, biotech to cleantech.
Three hundred leading lights from the Cambridge science and technology ecosystem attended the awards, which began with a networking reception.
Then, inside the Francis Crick Auditorium, it was time to reveal the winners.
The first to be named was the winner of the In Search of Wonder Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by JDJ Creative.
It went to Prof Sir Mene Pangalos, who recently retired from AstraZeneca following a stellar career, during which he helped to transform the culture and process of drug development at the biopharmaceutical company, helping to improve dramatically the success rate of its compounds progressing from pre-clinical studies to launch, helping patients worldwide. Knighted in the New Year 2020 Honours list for services to science, Sir Mene has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and oversaw the creation of AstraZeneca’s spectacular £1bn Discovery Centre on Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
His former boss, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told him in a video message: “You have been instrumental in transforming our company. You always rise to any challenge, putting patients first and science at the heart of what we do.”
Sir Mene then addressed the audience with a speech about his incredible career.
Winners of 15 more categories followed, beginning with the Start-up of the Year award, which went to Constructive Bio, and ending with Life Science Company of the Year, won by Sphere Fluidics.
The £1,500 IP Prize, provided by IP specialists Appleyard Lees, went to Cambridge Future Tech, which will benefit from a bespoke package of intellectual property services.
Editor Paul Brackley, who chaired the judging panel and hosted the awards, said: “Our seventh annual Science and Technology Awards were a fantastic celebration of the amazing talent we have in this region.
“The entries blew us away - and it was a challenging task to determine the winners from so many excellent nominees.
“Congratulations to all of them and thank you to our sponsors for helping us to shine a light on the achievements of these companies, organisations and individuals doing so much incredible work.
“The Cambridge region excels in so many science and technology sectors - and it was wonderful to showcase them at these awards.”
Look out for a souvenir supplement, featuring the stories of all the winners and pictures from the night in the Cambridge Independent, out from 22 May.
You can see all the winners below - and watch the livestream here.
The winners of the 2024 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards
In Search of Wonder Lifetime Achievement AwardSponsored by JDJ Creative
Winner: Prof Sir Mene Pangalos
Start-up Company of the YearSponsored by Kao Data
Winner: Constructive Bio
Highly Commended: Cambridge Future Tech
STEM Initiative of the YearSponsored by Cambridge Science Park
Winner: Science in Pictures - AstraZeneca
Highly Commended: Black Talent & Leadership in STEM
Employer of the YearSponsored by Restore Harrow Green
Winner: Riverlane
Highly Commended: Maxion Therapeutics
AI Company of the YearSponsored by Appleyard Lees
Winner: Lucida Medical
Highly Commended: Secondmind
Researcher of the YearSponsored by AstraZeneca
Winner: Dr Ben Porebski, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Highly Commended: Dr Emmanouil Metzakopian, bit.bio
Cleantech Company of the YearSponsored by Woodfines Solicitors
Winner: Alchemie Technology
Highly Commended: Advanced Infrastructure Technology
The One to WatchSponsored by cofinitive
Winner: Forefront RF
Highly Commended: BugBiome
CEO of the YearSponsored by Bidwells
Winner: Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Nu Quantum
Highly Commended: Dr Felix Dobbs, Broken String Biosciences
Software Company of the YearSponsored by Mantle Space
Winner: Optibrium
Highly Commended: Sano Genetics
The Tech for Good Award Sponsored by Allia Future Business Centre Cambridge
Winner: Orca Scan
Highly Commended: COG-Train from Wellcome Connecting Science and Wellcome Sanger Institute with COG-UK
The Award for InnovationSponsored by Railpen
Winner: Plextek
Highly Commended: Cellular Origins
Biotech Company of the YearSponsored by Chesterford Research Park
Winner: Crescendo Biologics
Highly Commended: Arecor
Medtech Company of the YearSponsored by St John’s Innovation Centre
Winner: PlaqueTec
Highly Commended: BIOS Health
Technology Company of the YearSponsored by the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University
Winner: Cambridge Mechatronics
Highly Commended: Pragmatic Semiconductor
Life Science Company of the YearSponsored by Zyme Communications
Winner: Sphere Fluidics
Highly Commended: Cerevance
Congratulations to all our winners
Following the awards, winners left with goody bags containing copies of the Cambridge Independent, iQ business magazine and gifts from sponsors.
Don’t miss the souvenir supplement, published in the Cambridge Independent out from 22 May. And look out for features on our winners in the coming months, and the launch of the 2025 Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards in the autumn.
To stay in touch with the awards, sign up for our newsletter or try a digital subscription using the offer at the top of the page.
If you would like to get involved in the 2025 awards, or find out more, email paul.brackley@iliffemedia.co.uk.
