From left to right: Prof. Dr. Albrecht Wendel (prize winner, inventor of the innovative method and Managing Director  of the Interfaculty Centre for Pharmacogenomics and Pharma Research (ICEPHA), Dr. Stefan Fennrich (prize winner), Prof. Dr. Stefan Laufer (Dep. Pharmaceutical Chemistry of the Institute of Pharmacy, University Tübingen, co-founder and member of the ICEPHA managing board, Emanuel von Bodman (representative  of the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas”), Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Wendel (prize winner) und Christian Dehnert (representative of Deutsche Bank, cooperation partner of the initiative “Germany - Land of Ideas”).
Photo: Stefan Brunke


The three award recipients, Prof. Dr. Albrecht Wendel (director of the ICEPHA and inventor of the innovative method), Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Wendel (director of the Clinical Research Laboratory of the Cardiac and Vascular Surgery at the University Hospital Tübingen) and Dr. Stefan Fennrich (leader of the PyroDetect research group), were awarded the prize in recognition of their development of the in vitro pyrogen test “PyroDetect”. This is an innovative method for completely testing drugs, e.g. injectable medication, for the presence of potentially dangerous pyrogenic (fever-causing) substances, instead of conducting animal tests on rabbits.

InvitroJobs recently presented the research group, their method and the method’s innovative potential in the regular feature “Working Group – a Portrait”.

In her welcoming speech, Parliamentary Secretary of State in the German Federal Ministry of Health Annette Widmann-Mauz described the methods as “ground-breaking” and predicted a development towards world wide establishment of the procedure. “By using the new test method, it will be possible to do away with up to 200,000 tests on rabbits per year in Europe. After approval in Europe, the next goal must be to establish the test worldwide. “Going on what I know, the stars are favourable for rabbits in the USA and Japan “.




Left photo: Prof. Dr. med. Christian Schlensak, new medical director of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital Tübingen) conveying greetings.
Right photo: Anke Schulz, Global Business Unit Microbiology of the Biotest AG.
Photos: Stefan Brunke

Prof. Dr. Schlensak, Medical Director of the University Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery stressed the importance of applied research, “or ‘translational medicine’ as it is called nowadays, meaning the implementation of the results of fundamental scientific research in direct clinical applications for the benefit of patients. The project chosen today ideally embodies this research approach; the award is for us both confirmation and motivation to take on the clinical challenges, to work on these experimentally and to tireless promote research up until the stage of application for patients. As Victor Hugo said, ‘nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come’.”

And this idea now bears fruit. According to Anke Schulz from the Global Business Unit Microbiology of the company Biotest AG (since 1 August 2011 Merck KGaA: Merck Millipore / Bio Monitoring) the marketplace’s interest in the now commercially available PyroDetect system is on the rise.

Prof. Dr. Rosenstiel, Dean of the Faculty of Science, emphasised that “the award is also a recognition of successful interdisciplinary collaboration“, demonstrating the success of translational application-oriented research. “I see further successful pioneering work in the field of biotechnology in the form of cooperation between pharmacy and medical technology, the key phrase being “biologisation of medical technology”, e.g. in the context of innovative nanotechnology and materials for improving biocompatibility.” About a dozen scientists and doctoral students are currently working under the leadership of Hans-Peter Wendel “on self-colonising transplants that grow with the host”.

Christian Dehnert, representative of Deutsche Bank, partner of the initiative “Germany - Land of Ideas” since its foundation in 2006, was sure from the start that “something special was in the making here”. He stressed the researchers’ function as role models in “actively pursuing their project” and, “with enthusiasm, energy and passionate commitment, bringing it to fruition in the course of the past fifteen years”.



On 15 July Baden-Württemberg’s Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann (left) presented the prize winners with their certificate, signed by the German Federal President Christian Wulff (middle: Prof. Dr. Hans Peter Wendel, right: Dr. Stefan Fennrich). Photo: © Germany – Land of Ideas


The initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas” has cooperated with Deutsche Bank since 2006 in honouring ideas and projects that make a lasting contribution to Germany’s future viability. The prize winners in the six categories economy, science, environment, culture, education and society stand as examples of Germany’s innovative power and commitment. The initiative “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” was founded in 2005 to support this potential and promote it abroad, taking up the image of Germany as the “Land of Ideas” evoked by the then German Federal President Horst Köhler in his inaugural speech in 2004.

According to the initiative’s organisers, there will also be an award ceremony for the national overall winners in each of the six competition categories (economy, science, environment, culture, education and society).  For the first time it will also be possible for citizens to select a public winner via an interactive internet platform. (http://www.land-der-ideen.de/de/365-orte/gala/bundes-und-publikumssieger).