Press Release: 27 July 2014
Bionorica Executive Board awards EUR 1 million for new approaches
in herbal medicines
Mallorca, Spain/Neumarkt i.d.OPf.: “I am extremely pleased about
this honor because the prize is exactly what I need to further
research at scientific institutions in these current times of reduced
government support and tight budgets,” says Dr. Birgit Kraus
from the Department of Pharmaceutical Biology at the University
of Regensburg.
Kraus is one of 20 winners at the Global Research Initiative
(GRI), which was honored by the Executive Board of German
herbal medicines specialist Bionorica at the end of 2013. “I am
pleased that so many innovative and promising entries were
submitted. Such a large and high-quality response to the first-time call for submissions
proves that herbal medicine is gaining further relevance among the scientific community as
well,” says Dr. Michael Popp, CEO and owner of the internationally successful manufacturer
of scientifically researched herbal medicines, German-based Bionorica SE.
Dr. Popp will pay out a total of one million euros for the unique herbal medicine research
campaign. He is expecting that the 20 prizes of EUR 50,000 each for research will result
in new stimulus for the field of herbal medicine to be able to offer patients an even greater
variety of products. “In addition to new analysis processes, the focus is also the search for
innovative approaches to new development of herbal medicines,” says pharmacist Dr.
Popp.
Dr. Andreas Körberle, Institute
of Pharmacy, University of Jena
The jury reviewed some 129 submissions from various treatment
fields, including respiratory diseases, osteoporosis, gynecological
diseases, bladder cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, among others.
Seven of the prize winners were from Germany. Dr. Johanna
Brandner from Hamburg, for example, deals in medicinal herbs from
traditional Chinese medicine and their applications in wound healing.
“I appreciate Bionorica’s support for my efforts in deciphering molecular
mechanisms of phytomedicine.
This is a field of research which,
despite its essential importance for using the full power of nature for
human health was neglected for a long time,“ says prize winner Dr.
Andreas Köberle from University of Jena, stressing the importance of the
prize for his research on a new pharmacological strategy for
inflammation-inhibiting medications.
Dr. Johanna M. Brandner,
Hamburg-Eppendorf University
Medical Center
Prize winner Dr. Birgit Kraus, Institute
of Pharmacy, University of Regensburg
Seven x EUR 50,000 for German junior researchers – 20 international prize winners
The 20 prize winners from 13 nations received their
awards on Sunday, 27 July 2014, within the scope of
the international symposium “Inflammations –
Challenges and Opportunities” at the Bionorica
Herbal Medicines Competence Center Sa Canova
in Sa Pobla, Mallorca.
“Creating a connection between nature’s healing
powers and state-of-the-art methods in science and
technology is something that drives and fascinates
me,” says Popp. As a researching pharmaceutical
company, Bionorica’s main interest is to continuously
further decipher the effectiveness of medicinal plants. “We want to combine the best that
nature offers us with the best that humans can achieve. To do this one must understand
the medicinal plant world, and that is a never-ending process.” Dr. Popp encouraged this
year’s prize winners of the Global Research Initiative to continue venturing into the
unknown and going down innovative paths.
Bionorica is a manufacturer of herbal medicines and is active in some 50 countries. With its
unique quality concept and its focus on consistent standardization of cultivation and
production, Bionorica has been able to grow into a worldwide leading company in the
promising sector of herbal medicines in the past 15 years.
Below is a list of the seven prizes that were awarded to scientists in Germany:
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Dr. Johanna M. Brandner, Center for Internal Medicine, Clinic for Dermatology and
Venerology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg.
Dr. Temuujin Dansranjavin, Andrological Urological Research Laboratory, Clinic and
Polyclinic for Urology, University of Gießen
Dr. Andreas Köberle, Department of Pharmaceutical/Medical Chemistry, Institute for
Pharmacy, University of Jena
Dr. Birgit Kraus, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute for Pharmacy, University
of Regensburg
Dr. Markus Krohn, Neurodegeneration Research Lab (NRL) / Department of Neurology,
University Hospital of Magdeburg
Dr. Jens Wild, Institute for Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Regensburg
Dr. Oliver Zierau and Annekathrin Keiler, Professorship for Molecular Cell Physiology and
Endocrinology, Technical University Dresden
Press kit and additional images available upon request.
Media contact:
Thomas Eibenberger
Senior Referent Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 9181 231-450
thomas.eibenberger@bionorica.de
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Global Research Award 2013/14
All 20 prize winners according to category
Group 1: Respiratory System
Rebecca Clarke, Queens University Belfast, Ireland, for a novel human in-vitro model to
study modulatory properties of plant-based medicines.
Dr. Claudina Perez Novo, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium, for analysis of the
molecular mechanisms involved in the anti-inflammatory action of an herbal preparation
on chronic rhinosinusitis.
Dr. Laura Sadofsky, University of Hull, England, for researching the effect of the natural
agonists and antagonists of the airway irritant receptors in vitro.
Prof. Adil Katarbayev, Kazakh State Medical University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for
Preclinical studies of an herbal preparation in acute intestinal infection.
Dr. Diana Zabolotnaya, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine, for a study
of an adjuvant effect of phyto products on antibody formation against influenza virus
antigens in experimental animals.
Group 2: Gynaecology / Osteoporosis
Dr. Annekathrin Keiler and Dr. Oliver Zierau, Technical University Dresden, Germany,
for researching the effects of a hops extract on osteoporosis in a rat model.
Dr. Anastasia Savilova, Moscow State University, Russia, for an investigation the
mechanism of action of an herbal preparation on endometrial mesenchymal stromal cells.
Dr. Petra Stute, Inselspital Bern, Switzerland, for researching the impact of black cohosh
on hippocampal and hypothalamic gene expression profiles in ovariectomized rats.
Group 3: Other Indications
Dr. Johanna Brandner, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, for a study on
the Effects of Arnebia euchroma extracts on different stages of wound healing.
Dr. Temuujin Dansranjavin, University of Giessen, Germany, for the Characterization of
the epigenetic regulation in prostatitis and prostate cancer by an herbal preparation.
Dr. Svetlana Kalinina, Perm State Pharmaceutical Academy, Russia, for researching
Verbascum nigrum extract as a new complex phytotherapeutic agent.
Dr. Markus Krohn, University of Magdeburg, Germany, for Defining specific extracts from
St. John’s Wort for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Cassandra Leah Quave, Emory University Atlanta, USA, for a study on Botanical
natural product inhibitors of acne biofilms.
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Dr. Miroslaw Szczepanski, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland, for Researching anticancer effect of an herbal preparation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Group 4: Optimisation, New Technologies and Targets
Dr. Camilla Bergonzi, University of Florence, Italy, for Innovative formulations to
enhance oral bioavailability of herbal extracts.
Dr. Andreas Köberle, University of Jena, Germany, for Targeting of bioactive lipid
networks: a novel pharmacological strategy for anti-inflammatory phytomedicine.
Dr. Birgit Kraus, University of Regensburg, Germany, for Correlating the structure of
differently substituted chalcones with transcriptome data and bioactivity in liver cells.
Dr. Denisa Margina, University of medicine and pharmacy Bucharest, Rumania, for
Studies on certain biological effects of encapsulated vegetal extracts with known cardiovascular positive outcome.
Dr. Stefan Schwaiger, University of Innsbruck, Austria, for researching Natural products
with effects on the NPS/NPSR system.
Dr. Jens Wild, University of Regensburg, Germany, for researching Bactericidal/
permeability-increasing protein as potential new target for antimicrobial and
immunomodulatory activities.
Service:
You can find images of the prize winners, brief CVs, abstracts of the selected projects and
photos of the awards ceremony at: www.bionorica.de/research.initiative2013
Media contact:
Thomas Eibenberger
Senior Referent Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 9181 231-450
thomas.eibenberger@bionorica.de
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