The 2026 Women in Pharma Awards gala ceremony took place on 29 April at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry, celebrating the achievements of women professionals, teams, and organisations across Ireland's pharma and life sciences sector.

Emma Kilgallon of West Pharmaceutical Services claimed the Overall Leader Award, the programme's highest honour, while Jean Casey of Eli Lilly was named recipient of the Legacy Award.

Takeda Ireland had a particularly strong showing across the evening. Deirdre Connaughton took Excellence in Senior Leadership — Pharma, Marie Smith won Best Clinical Operations Leadership, Victoria Hampson claimed Best Marketing and Communications Leadership, and Rachel Torreggiani was named Rising Star of the Year.

Other category winners on the night included:

  • Dr. Gemma Robinson, Acorn Regulatory Consulting Services — Excellence in Senior Leadership, Contract Services
  • Alette Ramos Hunt, Novartis — Excellence in Pharma and Life Sciences
  • Rose Kidd, ICON plc — Excellence in Senior Leadership, Life Sciences
  • Nicola Rice, Innopharma Technical Services — Best Education and Mentoring Leadership
  • Liz Allan, Exyte — Best Engineering and Manufacturing Operations Leadership
  • Victoria Ramos, Grifols Worldwide Operations — Best Finance Leadership
  • Emma Kilgallon, West Pharmaceutical Services — Best HR Leadership
  • Áine Hopkins, PTC Therapeutics — Best Quality Leadership
  • Lisa Mullaney, Medguard Healthcare — Best Sales and Commercial Leadership
  • Mary Moran, AbbVie — Best Site Leadership
  • Flavia Baccaro, AbbVie — Best Supply Chain/Logistics Leadership
  • Cancer Trials Ireland Start-Up Team — Best Female Led Team
  • AbbVie Affiliate Leadership Team — Best Female Led Team, Large
  • BioMarin Pharmaceutical — Workplace of the Year

The Women in Pharma Awards is a distinguished addition to the Irish Pharma Industry Awards, established to celebrate and acknowledge exceptional achievement among women in the sector.

Launched under the auspices of the Pharma Industry Awards, the programme shines a spotlight on the contributions of women professionals, teams, and organisations, highlighting originality, innovation, and excellence across the pharmaceutical community.

Visit the official awards website to review the full winners list, explore award categories, meet the judging panel, and subscribe to the newsletter for updates on the next awards cycle.