PI Innovation Award 2025 Honors Research on Anti-Cancer Drug
Photo: Prof. Dr. Thilo Stehle (Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University Tübingen), Dr. Markus Simon (Strategic Innovation and Technology Management, PI), Dr. Benedikt Michael Wagner (Award Winner), Dr. Steffen Schreiber (Director Global Innovation & Scouting, PI); Credits: Patrick Gerstorfer
For the second consecutive year, the "PI Innovation Award" has been presented at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. The award recognizes outstanding doctoral research with tangible, real-world impact—highlighting the essential link between academic excellence and practical innovation.
The PI Innovation Award recognizes scientific research in the form of doctoral theses as a driver for innovative solutions. The transfer of knowledge from research to practice is an important criterion for the award, as well as the great relevance beyond science.
This year’s award goes to Dr. Benedikt Michael Wagner for his exceptional pharmaceutical research targeting bronchial cancer (small-cell lung cancer - SCLC) and liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma - HCC) for which there are only limited treatment options, particularly in advanced stages. Dr. Wagner synthesized nearly 300 test compounds, ultimately identifying a promising preclinical drug candidate. This compound demonstrates a novel, gentler mechanism of action with a significantly improved toxicity profile. It has already shown strong efficacy in multiple in vivo tumor models, marking a potential breakthrough in cancer therapeutics where conventional therapies quickly reach high toxicity levels and lead to resistance.
PI extends its sincere thanks to Dr. Benedikt Michael Wagner for his extensive and groundbreaking research, which he published in his thesis “Development of novel orally bioavailable ligands of the Aurora Kinase A network with sub-nanomolar cellular activity and preclinical in vivo efficiency in SCLC and HCC tumor models”, and to the eleven other candidates who submitted exceptional work for consideration.
The awarding was particularly difficult this year, as many papers were submitted that met the criteria in an outstanding way. In the end, the high medical relevance of Dr. Wagner's work was the deciding factor.
Curious about past winners? Read about last year’s award recipient, whose work focused on early detection of therapy resistance in cancer, here.
Contact persons:
Dr. Markus Simon, Strategic Innovation and Technology Management
Dr. Steffen Schreiber, Director Global Innovation & Scouting