Newly Launched Andreas & Thomas Struengmann Award Recognizing Outstanding DACH Life Science Entrepreneurs Announces 2024 Finalists

• The selected finalists are a group of outstanding entrepreneurs in the field of biomedical research

• The award was established this year to honor Andreas Struengmann, M.D., and Thomas Struengmann, Ph.D., for their inspiring entrepreneurial achievements and visionary investments in the life science industry

• The winner will be officially announced at the Festival of the Future ceremony at the Deutsches Museum in Munich on June 28, 2024, and will receive a €100,000 cash prize

MUNICH, May 28, 2024–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The committee of the newly initiated Andreas & Thomas Struengmann Award today announced the finalist selection for the inaugural 2024 award. It is the first of its kind in the DACH region and aims to recognize impressive entrepreneurial talents and achievements in the life science arena.

In the spirit of its namesakes, it recognizes the next generation of leaders advancing a great idea into reality. This mission is reflected in the name of the award, which is a tribute to brothers Andreas Struengmann, M.D., and Thomas Struengmann, Ph.D., who achieved extraordinary entrepreneurial success as the founders of Hexal and made a significant impact on the life science industry with their visionary investments, including BioNTech.

“We are honored by the creation of the Award and impressed by the finalists, their visionary entrepreneurship and achievements that translate revolutionary ideas into reality. In addition, they highlight that the DACH life science ecosystem is thriving and represents an internationally recognized hub for excellence and creativity.” said Andreas and Thomas Struengmann.

The following outstanding entrepreneurs have been selected by the award committee for their innovative mindset and talent for execution in translating biomedical research into therapeutic approaches:

Thomas Thum | Claudia Ulbrich – Cardior

Thomas Thum, CSO and co-founder of Cardior, is a key opinion leader in cardiac diseases and the development of RNA-based therapeutics, who established the scientific foundation for Cardior. He is serving on the editorial boards of the world’s most prestigious cardiovascular journals and has received numerous awards for his research work.

With more than 25 years of management expertise in private and public biotech companies, Claudia Ulbrich, CEO and co-founder of Cardior, is an experienced integrative leader guiding international cross-functional teams based on a broad range of experience in M&A, transaction management and consulting. At Cardior, she has been instrumental in strategically leading the company and leveraged her high-level commercial and financing expertise to negotiate high-value deals for the company.

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Cardior is a pioneer in the development of RNA-targeted therapies to prevent, repair, and reverse heart disease.

Roman Thomas – DISCO Pharmaceuticals

Roman Thomas, CEO and co-founder of DISCO Pharmaceuticals, is a specialist in the identification of unique surface markers of cancer cells, and together with his team believes that there are breakthroughs to be made in this space that can help to improve the cancer treatment landscape. Roman brings over 10 years of entrepreneurial and nearly 20 years of scientific experience to DISCO. His passion for translating science into therapies is evident in his entrepreneurial track record, having successfully founded three other biotech companies.

DISCO Pharmaceuticals is using its transformative cell surfaceome discovery technology to unleash the full potential of targeted cancer therapies.

Samir Ounzain | Daniel Blessing – Haya Therapeutics

The two co-founders of Haya Therapeutics, Samir Ounzain, CEO, and Daniel Blessing, CTO, have created a company that is continuously gaining momentum and recognition in the industry, reflected in several prestigious start-up awards and the establishment of a US location at JLABS @ San Diego, part of Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s global network of life science incubators. Samir Ounzain is a molecular biologist with over 15 years of experience exploring the dark matter of the genome and his research efforts directly led to the discovery of hundreds of novel heart-enriched lncRNAs. Daniel Blessing is a biotechnology scientist with 10 years of experience working in the field of pharmaceutical biotech including various translational aspects of drug development and production.

Haya Therapeutics is a precision medicine company developing programmable therapeutics that target long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a new class of regulatory molecules from the non-coding portion of the human genome, known as “dark matter”.

Ulf Grawunder – T-CURX

Ulf Grawunder, CEO and co-founder of T-CURX, and his team have built a company that envisions to democratize CAR-T immunotherapies for many more cancer patients who currently cannot benefit from these transformative medicines. With over 20 years of experience in founding, building, and exiting biotech companies, T-CURX is the third biotech start-up that Ulf has co-founded, underscoring his entrepreneurial spirit and deep knowledge of the field.

T-CURX leverages proprietary and cutting-edge technologies and CAR-T product opportunities using synthetic transposon systems, also known as “Sleeping Beauty”, to develop novel and improved CAR-T cell products in both hematological and solid tumor indications.

Dominik Schumacher | Jonas Helma-Smets | Ingo Lehrke – Tubulis

The three co-founders of Tubulis, Dominik Schumacher, CEO, Jonas Helma-Smets, CSO, and Ingo Lehrke, CBO, have combined their entrepreneurial spirit, scientific know-how, and business expertise to build a clinical-ready company poised to deliver the true therapeutic potential of ADCs to patients. Dominik Schumacher and Jonas Helma Smets were instrumental in developing the scientific backbone of the company and securing early funding and are the driving force for Tubulis’ continuous technology innovations. Ingo Lehrke brings over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry to Tubulis. With his passion for strategic business development, he has been instrumental in the company’s growth, including Tubulis’ recent partnership with BMS.

Tubulis is building a pipeline of uniquely matched ADCs, tailored to respective disease biology by leveraging the company’s proprietary suite of platform technologies to combine the right targeting molecule, conjugation chemistry, and payload.

As a next step in the selection process, an expert jury consisting of leading personalities in the DACH life science sector will select the winner, who will be officially announced on June 28, 2024, during the “Festival of the Future” at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. As part of the ceremony event, the winner will have the opportunity to present the company and business idea to a professional audience and will receive a €100,000 cash prize.

To learn more about the award and stay up to date on the latest news visit our newly launched website: www.struengmannaward.de.

About the Andreas & Thomas Struengmann Award
The award was established in 2024 to recognize outstanding entrepreneurs realizing revolutionary ideas in the DACH life science sector. The goal is to reward exceptional achievements with a prestigious prize and to further the development of the next generation of leaders in this space. The award was named to honor twin brothers Andreas Struengmann, M.D., and Thomas Struengmann, Ph.D., who are among the important entrepreneurs, visionaries and investors in the life science sector. As the founders of Hexal, they achieved extraordinary entrepreneurial success and as investors, they have continued to repeat that success for more than 20 years by building and developing leading companies across the industry, including Mainz-based BioNTech. Learn more at https://struengmannaward.de/.

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Contacts

Trophic Communications
Stephanie May, PhD
Phone: +49 (0) 171 185 56 82
Email: athos@trophic.eu