Concept Heidelberg awards Wallhäusser Innovation Award 2024

L to R: Oliver Schmidt, Managing Director of Concept Heidelberg with the Professor Wallhäußer Innovation Award winners Melanie Braun (Labor LS), Zie Quann Wu (Green Elephant Biotech), Thomas Beutler (GEA Lyophil), and Prof. Alf Lamprecht (University of Bonn, Pharmaceutical Technology).

At the GMP PharmaCongress 2024, CONCEPT HEIDELBERG awarded the Wallhäußer Innovation Award for the first time. The prize was jointly awarded to the University of Bonn, GEA Lyophil, and IBL. Green Elephant Biotech achieved second place, and third place went to Labor LS.

CONCEPT HEIDELBERG has been awarding the Wallhäußer Prize, endowed with EUR 5,000, since 1987. With this award, the company honors the extraordinary achievements of Prof. Dr. Karl Heinz Wallhäußer, who significantly influenced the development of pharmaceutical quality assurance. The scientist, who passed away in 1996, gained high regard through numerous publications both domestically and abroad. His book "Praxis der Sterilisation, Desinfektion, Konservierung" is still published today under his name.

New Direction for the Award – Prof. Wallhäußer Innovation Award

In addition to the demand for efficiency and the implementation of GMP regulations, the pharmaceutical production of the future also faces a series of new challenges. Topics such as sustainability, cost efficiency, and the use of artificial intelligence significantly influence pharmaceutical manufacturing and technology. Therefore, the award was realigned for 2024.

The Prof. Wallhäußer Innovation Award aims to honor projects or technical solutions characterized by innovation and offering practical solutions for the future. The following topics are particularly emphasized:

– Technical innovations in systems to improve product quality and efficiency
– Innovations in sustainability / CO2 neutrality / resource conservation
– Integration of artificial intelligence, e.g., in machine controls, other system components, but also in processes, production workflows, and production control for efficient and GMP-compliant pharmaceutical technology and manufacturing

Award winners can be individuals or groups of people. A pharmaceutical company can also be recognized for implementing an innovative solution, or a supplier (service provider, equipment manufacturer, engineering, etc.). The selection of winners is made by a jury of 13 recognized experts from industry and authorities.

New Award First Presented at GMP PharmaCongress & GMP PharmaTechnica

The new Wallhäußer Innovation Award was awarded for the first time at GMP PharmaCongress & GMP PharmaTechnica on March 19/20, 2024, at the RheinMain CongressCenter in Wiesbaden. The congress, featuring 11 GMP/FDA conferences along with a parallel expo with over 110 international exhibitors, is considered an industry event where the European pharmaceutical industry exchanges the latest developments annually.

For the 2024 Innovation Award, 15 projects were submitted, from which the jury selected three finalists. In recognition of the project "Atmospheric spray freeze drying for an increased sustainability of the lyophilisation process," the EUR 5,000 endowed Innovation Award 2024 was ultimately jointly awarded to the University of Bonn, GEA Lyophil, and IBL. For the majority of the jury, this proposal represented the best combination of technical innovation, process improvement, and sustainability aspects, such as energy savings. At the same time, the developed atmospheric spray freeze-drying process could benefit a whole group of users. Second place was awarded to Green Elephant Biotech for their project "CellScrew® - sustainable and scalable adherent cell expansion system – 3D printed and plant-based," and third place went to Labor LS for their project "Efficient identification of microorganisms for aseptic production with an innovative software tool: LS-pedia."