Presentation of Award 2004

Capping the first day of the BIOTECHNICA BUSINESS FORUM 2004, Federal Economics Minister Wolfgang Clement presented the prizes to the winning companies.

Photo: CEO Dr. Markus Moser accepts the EUROPEAN BIOTECHNICA AWARD for his biotech company Prionics, based in Zurich, Switzerland. (From left to right: Stephan Ph. Kühne, Member of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe AG, Walter Hirche, Economics Minister of the State of Lower Saxony, Dr. Markus Moser, Wolfgang Clement, German Economics Minister, and Prof. Dr. Peter Stadler, Jury Chairperson).

The first prize in the amount of EUR 20,000 plus three free advertising placements in the "European Biotechnology Science & Industry News" (published by BIOCOM AG in Berlin) went to Switzerland's Prionics AG, based in the Schlieren borough of Zurich. Established in 1997, Prionics has 105 employees. Its core business consists of developing innovative techniques for detecting and treating neurological diseases. Prionics is the worldwide leader in BSE quick tests.

The second prize went to Berlin-based Jerini AG with 97 employees. The prize consisted of a free turnkey exhibition stand measuring 12 square meters (130 sq. ft.) at BIOTECHNICA 2005, from 18-20 October, in Hannover, Germany. Jerini started up in 1994 as a spin-off from Berlin's Humboldt University. This biotech firm uses innovative technologies and development approaches to harness the therapeutic potential of peptides for the discovery and development of new medicines.

The third prize went to Cytos Biotechnology AG, likewise based in Zurich/ Schlieren. This company has a staff of 109 and was established in 1995 as a spin-off of ETH Zurich. Cytos Biotechnology has been listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange since October 2002. Its core business consists of discovering, developing and marketing biopharmaceutical preparations for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. As the third-place finisher, Cytos Biotechnology will receive five free days of consulting services from Capgemini.

In his laudatory address, jury chairman Prof. Dr. Peter J. W. Stadler noted the high quality of all of the competing firms and underscored the strict criteria underpinning the award, which is limited to small and medium-sized biotech and life sciences enterprises that have successfully established themselves in the marketplace. With regard to all the winners, Prof. Stadler stated that "every firm present here today belongs to the biotech elite, but unfortunately there can only be one first-place finisher. And it is not merely out of politeness when I say that all five companies are doing excellent work." What spoke for Prionics AG as the overall winner, he continued, was that the Swiss-based enterprise managed to be successful from day one without requiring any venture capital. "The company was profitable and market-oriented right from the very beginning; they didn't focus on science alone," he concluded. The awards were announced before an audience of around 200 top representatives of the biotech industry from Germany and abroad.

The next EUROPEAN BIOTECHNICA AWARD will be presented at the opening ceremony of  "BIOTECHNICA - International Trade Fair for Biotechnology" on October 17, 2005 in Hannover.