PHARMExcel CEO nominated for Best Businesswoman of the Year Award

PHARMExcel is delighted to celebrate the achievements of its Founder and CEO, Yvanne Enever, who has been nominated Businesswoman of the Year at the SME Hertfordshire Business Awards 2022.

The award recognises successful female business leaders who through their exceptional drive and leadership make an outstanding impact on a business.

Under the leadership of Yvanne Enever, PHARMExcel has gone from strength to strength. In the last 18 months, the business has played a pivotal role in ground-breaking global drug development including the world’s first COVID booster vaccination trial (Covboost) and the first into-man safety and safety and performance trial of a new liver dialysis device study-DIALIVE^TM .

We caught up with Yvanne to hear how her early career as an NHS Nurse led her to become the Founder of PHARMExcel, a successful multi-million-pound Contract Research Organisation (CRO) business.

She said: “It was never my intention to launch my own business. After 10 fulfilling years as an NHS nurse, I was looking for a new challenge, so I moved away from nursing into the academic clinical trial arena. It was here I developed my passion for new drug discovery and the lifesaving impact a new drug can have if it’s brought to market quickly through a well-managed clinical trial.

Leaving the NHS and moving to a small CRO as Head of Quality Assurance I soon discovered there was very little support for academic researchers needing access to clinical trial services that were ‘financially’ viable.  So, in 2009 I launched PHARMExcel, the first CRO business of its kind in Welwyn Garden City to support NHS clinical trials.

It matters to me that patients get the drugs they need having personally witnessed my mother suffering for many years from Crohn’s disease (inflammatory bowel disease). Sadly, she passed away before more effective drugs were made available for her. I’m proud that PHARMExcel has a growing influence over new drug trials and continues to play a small part in providing greater options for patients and their families. This is what drives my passion daily.”

Asked how she felt about her award nomination, Yvanne said:

“It’s an incredible honour to be nominated for SME Businesswoman of the Year award. It certainly has been a difficult 18 months, which have reminded us all at PHARMExcel of the values and priorities of the organisation.  I am proud of the way the company has supported its staff, clients, and communities through these challenging times.

I see the award as acknowledgement of the expertise and hard work of everyone at PHARMExcel and for this I am enormously proud. ”

The annual SME Hertfordshire Business Awards recognise and support Small Medium Enterprises driving innovation and competition in many economic sectors. The winners will be announced on 29^th September.