Innovation Award
The Innovation Award for Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry is presented by the GDCh Division of Medicinal Chemistry jointly with the Division of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry of the German Pharmaceutical Society (DPhG). This early-career award recognises outstanding scientific publications and results in the fields of medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry. The award includes a certificate and prize money of 5000 euros donated by the two Divisions. It is generally presented annually as part of the "Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry" Conference. The prize may be shared.
Deadline: 31 October 2026
Objective
The GDCh Division of Medicinal Chemistry and the DPhG Division of Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry jointly award this prize each year in recognition of outstanding and independent scientific research in medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, as demonstrated by publications in scientific journals. The subject areas covered by the Innovation Prize span the entire breadth of medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry, particularly research into and development of new therapeutics. The following subject areas illustrate the range of possible contributions and are not an exhaustive list of work deserving of an award:
The committee welcomes submissions demonstrating innovation in any area of medicinal and pharmaceutical chemistry – including those extending beyond the examples listed above, as well as contributions from industry.
The prize
The award comprises a certificate and prize money of 5000 euros donated by the two Divisions. The prize may be shared. The prize will be awarded as part of the Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry Conference, taking place from 15 to 18 March 2027 in Freiburg. The awardee will be invited to present their field of research in a short talk during the Conference. The Division will cover the costs of attending the Conference. The prize is awarded by a prize committee appointed by the executive committees of the two Divisions; each Division appoints two members.
Nomination/application
Nominations and applications are welcome. Candidates should have completed their doctorate no more than ten years ago. Publications published between 2022 and 2026 will be considered. Each application/nomination must contain the following information:
Submission
Please send your proposal by email, compiled into a single PDF file, to the GDCh Office, for the attention of Maike Fries.
The Innovation Award 2026 was presented on 26 March 2026 on the occasion of the Division conference “Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2026” in Münster to Junior Professor Dr. Marcel Bermúdez and Dr. Lennart Brewitz .
Junior Professor Dr. Marcel Bermúdez: “in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. The work of Junior Professor Bermúdez enables an innovative dynamic view of drug targets. This also makes it possible to identify small differences in protein–ligand interactions, investigate complex phenomena and find mechanistic explanations. This includes, for example, ‘biased signalling’ in GPCRs and the analysis of subtype selectivity. The scientific success of his innovative and independent research is impressively documented by numerous publications in highly ranked journals.”
Dr. Lennart Brewitz: “in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr. Brewitz has presented innovative work on potential drug targets at the interface of medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. This includes, among others, cysteine proteases – for example, the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 – for which Dr. Brewitz developed novel electrophilic alkyne warheads. Dr. Brewitz also established new approaches for the inhibition of therapeutically relevant 2-oxoglutarate-dependent enzymes. The scientific success of his innovative and independent research is impressively documented by numerous publications in highly ranked journals.”
The Innovation Award 2025 was presented on 3 April 2025 on the occasion of the Division conference “Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2025” in Erlangen to
Dr. Dmitrii Kalinin “in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Mr Kalinin has made significant scientific contributions to the medicinal chemistry of anticoagulants. His work on novel inhibitors of factor XIIa and the associated structure–activity relationships is particularly innovative. This opens up new approaches to anticoagulant therapy. The scientific success of his innovative work is impressively documented by publications in internationally renowned journals.”
The Innovation Award 2024 was presented on 19 March 2024 on the occasion of the Division conference “Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2024” in Munich to
Dr. Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar “in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Mr Pillaiyar has made significant scientific contributions to the medicinal chemistry of antiviral therapeutics, particularly substances with activity against coronaviruses. Particularly innovative is the targeting of viral and host kinases for the development of antiviral compounds with a broad spectrum of activity. This has opened up new approaches to combating dengue, Zika and influenza viruses. The scientific success of his innovative work is impressively documented by publications in the internationally highest-ranking journals.”
The Innovation Award 2023 was presented on 4 April 2023 on the occasion of the Division conference “Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry 2023” in Vienna to
Dr. Matthias Schiedel “in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. By targeting intracellular allosteric binding sites of G-protein-coupled receptors, Dr. Schiedel succeeded in developing novel concepts for controlling receptor selectivity and functional selectivity. By applying PROTAC strategies, GPCRs could be specifically targeted for proteasomal degradation. The scientific success of his innovative and independent work is impressively documented by publications in internationally prestigious journals.”
The Innovation Award was presented on 15 March 2022 on the occasion of the Online-FiMC 2022 to Dr. Steffen Pockes and Dr. Oliver Thorn-Seshold .
Dr. Pockes: "in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr Pockes's scientific work focuses on the development of novel active compounds to combat neurodegenerative diseases. The focus is on innovative ligands for G-protein-coupled receptors and selective caspase inhibitors. The scientific success of his innovative and independent research is documented by publications in the highest-ranking journals of medicinal chemistry."
Dr. Thorn-Seshold: "in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr Thorn-Seshold develops structurally novel, photoswitchable modulators of the cytoskeleton. This work ranges from basic research to in vivo applications. Photoswitchable antimitotic agents and vascular-damaging active compounds are being used to develop new strategies for tumour therapy. The scientific success of his innovative and independent work is documented by publications in the highest-ranking international journals and by the considerable acquisition of third-party funding."
The Innovation Award was presented on the occasion of the Online-FiMC 2021 to Prof. Dr. Pierre Koch and Ass.-Prof. Dr. Nina Schützenmeister .
Prof. Dr. Koch: "in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr. Koch developed selective kinase inhibitors capable of penetrating the central nervous system. These kinase inhibitors represent an innovative approach to the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. The scientific success of this innovative research is documented by numerous publications in renowned journals."
Prof. Dr. Schützenmeister: "in recognition of her outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr. Schützenmeister conducted innovative work on the synthesis of biologically active natural products. She developed new and efficient synthetic methods and applied them to produce natural products and natural product analogues with antibacterial and antiviral activity. In this way, novel analogues can be made accessible to improve biological activity. The scientific success of this innovative and highly independent research is documented by publications in renowned journals."
The Innovation Award 2020 was presented to PD Dr. Oliver Koch and PD Dr. Daniel Merk .
PD Dr. Oliver Koch: "in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr Koch conducted groundbreaking work on the development and application of computer-assisted methods for the rational molecular design of new biologically active substances. In particular, he focused on targets for combating mycobacterial infections and for modulating epigenetic processes. The scientific success of this innovative and highly independent research is documented in numerous publications in prestigious journals."
PD Dr. Daniel Merk: "in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr Merk conducted innovative work on the modulation of nuclear receptors. This important class of proteins offers poorly characterised, potential new targets for drug development. Dr Merk has used a broad range of methods in his research to date, including computer-assisted methods. At this early stage of his academic career, he has already produced an impressive number of high-quality publications."
The Innovation Award 2019 was presented to Dr. Andreas Brunschweiger on the occasion of the annual “Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry” conference "in recognition of his outstanding, original and pioneering research. Dr. Andreas Brunschweiger has developed and synthesised innovative DNA-encoded compound libraries for numerous classes of compounds. These libraries enable the rapid and efficient identification of new lead structures in drug research."
| 2026 | Junior Professor Dr Marcel Bermúdez, University of Münster Dr Lennart Brewitz, University of Oxford | |||
| 2025 | Dr Dmitrii Kalinin, University of Münster | |||
| 2024 | Dr Thanigaimalai Pillaiyar, Tübingen | |||
| 2023 | Dr Matthias Schiedel, Erlangen-Nuremberg | |||
| 2022 | Dr Steffen Pockes, Regensburg Dr Oliver Thorn-Seshold, Munich | |||
| 2021 | Dr Pierre Koch, Regensburg Assistant Professor Dr Nina Schützenmeister, Vienna | |||
| 2020 | PD Dr Oliver Koch, Münster PD Dr Daniel Merk, Frankfurt | |||
| 2019 | Dr Andreas Brunschweiger, Dortmund | |||
| 2018 | Professor Dr Finn K. Hansen, Leipzig | |||
| 2017 | Professor Dr Anna Katharina Herta Hirsch, Saarbrücken | |||
2016 | Dr Andreas Koeberle, Jena | |||
| 2015 | Dr Nuska Tschammer, Erlangen Dr Peter Kolb, Marburg | |||
| 2014 | Junior Professor Dr Peter Wich, Mainz | |||
| 2013 | Dr Johanne Notni, Munich | |||
| 2012 | Dr Christian Ottman, Dortmund | |||
| 2011 | Junior Professor Dr Ingo Ott, Braunschweig Dr Andreas Bender, Cambridge, UK | |||
| 2010 | Dr Daniel Rauh, Dortmund | |||
| 2008 | Dr Franz von Nussbaum, Wuppertal | |||
| 2007 | Professor Dr Christoph Sotriffer, Marburg | |||
| 2006 | PD Dr Andrea Sinz, Leipzig | |||
| 2005 | PD Dr Eric Beitz, Tübingen Dr Holger Gohlke, Frankfurt | |||
| 2003 | PD Dr Franz F. Paintner, Munich | |||
| 2002 | Dr. Jörg Rademann, Tübingen | |||
| 2001 | Dr Andreas Link, Hamburg Dr Wolfgang Sippl, Düsseldorf | |||
| 2000 | Dr Manfred Jung, Münster | |||
| 1999 | PD Dr Thomas Carell, Zurich, Switzerland Dr Martin Schlitzer, Marburg | |||
| 1998 | Habilitation Award Dr Joachim Jose Dr Tanja Schirmeister |