Greifswald
- Sebastian Braun wins prestigious entrepreneur award in the ‘family business’ category
- First award winner from the eastern German states since 2014
- The EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award is presented in 60 countries
Sebastian Braun, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, main owner together with his sister Dr Bianca Juha and former CEO of the CHEPLAPHARM Group for many years, is EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He was honoured yesterday evening at a gala ceremony at Motorwerk Berlin in the ‘family business’ category. The EY Entrepreneur of the Year is awarded annually in 60 countries and is considered one of the most prestigious business awards worldwide.
Over the past 20 years, Sebastian Braun has transformed CHEPLAPHARM from a small company with an annual turnover of 600,000 euros into a global market leader in the acquisition of established off-patent branded medicines with an annual turnover of 1.5 billion euros (FY/2023). The group has a global network of 125 contract manufacturers and 100 distribution partners, ensuring a continuous supply of reliable medicines to patients and maintaining global drug diversity. Today, CHEPLAPHARM employs around 750 people at locations in Germany, France, Japan, Russia and Switzerland.
For Sebastian Braun, good entrepreneurship is one thing above all: ‘Success is no coincidence - it's always a combination of preparation and opportunity. If you want to be successful, you have to constantly educate yourself in your business field, know your stuff - and then act boldly when opportunities arise.’ A maxim that probably also convinced the jury of experts, who selected the winners based on four key criteria: ‘Entrepreneurship’, which represents entrepreneurial thinking and action, ‘Purpose’, which reflects the company's purpose and vision, ‘Growth’, which stands for growth and future potential, and ‘Impact’, which includes impact and corporate responsibility.
‘Winning this prestigious business award fills me with great pride and I accept it on behalf of my fantastic team. It is the result and at the same time proof of the work we have done together in recent years and a success story that would not have been possible without the CHEPLAPHARM workforce,’ says Sebastian Braun, delighted with the award. ‘As the first award winner from Eastern Germany in ten years, I am particularly pleased to have brought the prize home - for our employees, for our company and for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.’
Sebastian Braun represents Germany at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025
It took ten years before Sebastian Braun to be honoured again as an entrepreneur from eastern Germany (excluding Berlin). In 2014, NOMOS Glashütte/SA Roland Schwertner KG was the last winner from eastern Germany. But that's not all: This year, Sebastian Braun will receive another honour: he will represent Germany at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year in Monaco in 2025.
About the ‘EY Entrepreneur Of The Year’ competition
In addition to Sebastian Braun in the ‘family business’ category, three other entrepreneurial personalities were honoured this year in the categories sustainability, innovation and young company. There were five finalists to choose from in each category. The ‘Entrepreneur Of The Year’ programme was launched by EY in the USA in 1986. Since then, the competition has established itself in around 60 countries and is one of the world's most prestigious entrepreneur awards. The competition is being organised in Germany for the 28th time this year and is supported by well-known companies and media. These include LGT, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and manager magazin. In addition to honouring successful business personalities, EY also promotes the next generation of entrepreneurs with its ‘EY NextGen Academy’ programme. For further information, please visit the following website: http://www.de.ey.com/eoy