At the Prix Galien awards ceremony last month, I had the opportunity to interview the winners on camera. We’ve just posted edited versions of the interviews here. Inspiring stories, remarkable people (and some great-looking tuxes). Enjoy.

Pharma snagged five out of 30 spots designated for the marketing elite on Ad Age’s Power Players 2008 list. Each individual represents a company that is making milestones in terms of signature accomplishments and advertising spending. Let’s take a closer look:

#5 Brian Perkins, vice president, corporate affairs
Johnson & Johnson
Ad Budget: $2.41 billion
Key attributes: company’s sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics; conversion of Pfizer allergy drug Zyrtec to OTC; continued innovative marketing endeavors with expansion of its BabyCenter portal

#8 Susan Edwards, vice president, marketing
GlaxoSmithKline
Ad Budget: $2.46 billion
Key attributes: consumer business up with diet drug Alli (a $200 million brand); Sensodyne growing at double-digits speed; new CEO Andrew Witty outlines plan for more emphasis on consumer products and less on pharmaceuticals

#21 Ian Read, president, worldwide pharmaceutical operations
Pfizer
Ad Budget: $1.25 billion
Key attributes: Lyrica and Sutent both up more than 50 percent in the first half; Viagra sales were up 13 percent in the second quarter despite competition; agreement made to forestall direct generic competition against Lipitor until 2011

#23 Herb Ehrenthal, group vice president, global advertising and marketing communications
Schering-Plough Corp.
Ad Budget: $1.09 billion
Key attributes: strong pipeline of drugs in the making; big acquisition of biotech company Organon; organic sales rose 1.4 percent in second quarter

#24 Bernard Poussot, CEO
Wyeth
Ad Budget: $1.08 billion
Key attributes: raised full-year expectations with its second quarter earnings; acquired the Thermacare analgesic-heat-wraps brand from P&G; Thermacare can be coupled with its Advil ibuprofen brand

For a more complete list of agencies, see the 100 Leading National Advertisers 2008 database on AdAge.com

After more than 25 years at Merck, Wendy Yarno, the company’s chief marketing officer, will retire. The announcement of Yarno’s stepping down was made this morning in an e-mail to Merck employees.

Yarno joined Merck in 1983 as a sales rep, went on to launch Cozaar and Hyzaar, and then eventually was named to oversee marketing for Merck’s human healthcare business. Most recently, she received press for her pivotal role in launching Januvia.

Yarno has been out in front, talking about the importance of Merck’s transformation and the need to create better alignment among the different functions at the company. But all this alignment suggests that Yarno’s retirement might have come a bit earlier than expected. A source inside the company reveals that this is just the first of many other changes expected to be announced shortly.