Eight Chinese pharmacologists were given the 2016 CNPHARS-Servier Prize for Young Investigators in Pharmacology in Beijing Monday afternoon at the closing ceremony of the 14th National Conference of Chinese Pharmacological Society.

The winners include Doctor Chu Shifeng of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Professor Du Yanhua from Sun Yat-Sen University and Hua Fang, an associate researcher at Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, according to a statement released by the society.

Each winner will receive an allowance of 27,500 yuan ($4,060) from the society and the sponsor, the French pharmaceutical company Servier Laboratories, the statement said.

They are the 20th generation of winners of the prize, which was launched in 1996. Today, a total of 158 Chinese researchers have received the award. The prize has strongly boosted the development of pharmacology in China and has become a well-known event of this field, said the Chinese Pharmacological Society.