A total of six finalists from Dresden, Braunschweig, Berlin, Leipzig, Würzburg and Frankfurt am Main presented their research projects to an international audience of experts, including potential investors. The independent jury of experts selected three equally deserving winners, who were each awarded prize money of 2,000 euros. This year, the Innovation Award was jointly organised by InfectoGnostics Research Campus Jena and BioLago, the healthcare network for the Lake Constance region.
Innovative approach against resistant infections
Among the award winners is the project "First-in-class small-molecule inhibitor of Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin" by Dr Aditya Shekhar (Helmholtz Zentrum München). Aditya Shekhar (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig).
It addresses a central challenge of modern medicine: severe bacterial infections against the background of increasing antimicrobial resistance. The approach does not focus on killing the pathogen, but on neutralising the α-toxin of Staphylococcus aureus, a key virulence factor for tissue damage.
The jury particularly recognised the stringent scientific and translational development, the in vivo validated mode of action as well as the strong IP position and the clear path towards clinical application.
New target in cancer therapy
The project "SpliceTACs: First-in-class spliceosome-targeting degraders" by Dr Xinlai Cheng (Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt) was also honoured.
The novel approach targets the targeted degradation of the spliceosomal protein USP39, disrupts central processes of RNA processing and thus leads to tumour cell death.
The jury emphasised that a molecular target mechanism long considered "undruggable" is being addressed here and that the approach combines in-depth mechanistic knowledge with modern drug development strategies such as AI-supported ligand search and targeted protein degradation. She also recognised the solid IP strategy and the high transformative potential of the project.
Platform technology for realistic tissue models
The third innovation award went to the project "Vasc-on-Demand - Platform for vascularised tissue models", which was presented by Alexander Radüchel and Katinka Theis (University Hospital Würzburg).
The platform enables the standardised production of vascularised tissue models using immediately usable artificial blood vessels and thus allows more realistic and reproducible investigations of biological processes and drug effects.
The jury particularly appreciated the platform character and the broad application potential from drug development to personalised medicine as well as the clear path towards practical implementation.
Audience Award for "MakulaPatch"
In addition, all finalists had the opportunity to win the Audience Award 2026, which was awarded via online voting. The Audience Award went to Felix Wagner with the "MaculaPatch" project from the Technical University of Dresden, in which mini-retinas are being developed to effectively combat degenerative eye diseases in the future.
The other finalists also included Dr. Ronny Frank from the University of Leipzig with the project "N∑P-Enzyme Induced Degradation Measurement Assay of Polymers" and Dr Anthea Wirges from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine with the project "In vivo anti-CXCR5 CAR T-cells".
Acknowledgement and strong partnerships
The prize money for the Innovation Award of the German BioRegions 2026 was donated by Dehmel & Bettenhausen Patentanwälte, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Fundess GmbH and BIOspektrum / Springer Verlag GmbH. The award winners were honoured at the award ceremony by representatives of the prize money sponsors. Dr Florian Rückerl (Dehmel & Bettenhausen Patentanwälte), Dr Angelika Vlachou (High-Tech Gründerfonds) and Dr Rosi Hermann (Fundess GmbH) were also involved.
The award ceremony was jointly moderated by Dr Jens Hellwage (InfectoGnostics Forschungscampus Jena) and Andreas Baur (BioLago).
The Innovation Award impressively underlines the high innovative strength of German biotechnology and makes a significant contribution to giving visibility to visionary ideas and further strengthening cooperation between the BioRegions and BIO Deutschland.
Photo: Winner of the Innovation Award of the German Bioregions 2026
Source: Zöhre Kurc, Copyright: InfectoGnostics