Wallhäußer Award presented for the first time at GMP PharmaCongress & GMP PharmaTechnica

The Professor Wallhäußer award is endowed with EUR 5,000 and has been awarded since 1987, in memory of the extraordinary accomplishments of Prof Dr Karl Heinz Wallhäußer. Prof Wallhäußer played a decisive role in the development of pharmaceutical quality assurance. The scientist, who died in 1996, earned a high international reputation with his book "The Practice of Sterilisation, Disinfection and Conservation" and with many other publications. 

New focus of the award - Professor Wallhäußer Innovation Award

In addition to the demand for efficiency and the implementation of GMP regulations, pharmaceutical production of the future also faces a number of new challenges. Topics such as sustainability, cost efficiency and the use of artificial intelligence already have a significant impact on pharmaceutical production and pharmaceutical technology. This is why the award has been reorganized in 2024.

The Professor Wallhäußer Innovation Award is intended to honor projects or technical solutions that stand out through innovation and offer practical solutions for the future. The focus is on the following topics in particular:

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

Award winners can be either individuals or a group of people. A pharmaceutical company can also be honored for the implementation of an innovative solution or a supplier (service provider, plant construction, engineering, etc.). The winners are selected by a jury of 13 recognised experts from industry and public authorities.

New award presented for the first time at GMP PharmaCongress & GMP PharmaTechnica

The new Professor Wallhäußer Innovation Award was presented for the first time at GMP PharmaCongress & GMP PharmaTechnica on 19/20 March 2024 at the RheinMain CongressCenter in Wiesbaden. The Congress with 11 GMP/FDA conferences together with the parallel Expo with over 110 international exhibitors is regarded as an industry event where the European pharmaceutical industry meets annually to discuss the latest developments.

For the Innovation Award 2024 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 award ultimately went jointly to the University of Bonn, GEA Lyophil and IBL. 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".