Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation Prize

Established in Boston in 2015 and jointly sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, the prize* facilitates business growth, allowing recipients to focus on developing the next generation of breakthrough medicines. Now also established in San Diego and New York, USA; Tokyo, Japan; and Vienna, Austria; the award provides a platform to show-case ideas and projects from entrepreneurs and start-up organizations.

Shortlisted applicants are invited to present their ideas in a poster session, from which a final short-list is selected to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. Our most recent winner in Boston 2019, Axonis Therapeutics, Inc. was recognized for its efforts in advancing drug discovery in neurorestoration to develop gene therapies for spinal cord injury and other currently incurable neurological disorders.

Since its inception in 2015, 12 companies have been awarded prizes with a value of more than $750,000. In addition, Trutino Biosciences, initially identified through the Innovation Prize, is now working in a discovery research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. Other winners include Restore Vision, a start-up company from Keio University School of Medicine, awarded our inaugural Tokyo Innovation Prize; AbeXXa Biologics, an immune-oncology company; RIFT Biotherapeutics, a therapeutic antibody company focused on immuno-oncology targets outside of the T-cell space; and Kleo Pharmaceuticals, winners of the first Innovation prize in 2015, in recognition of its work in developing small molecule immunotherapies.

To find out about future events, please look at our Grass Roots events calendar.

*Prizes are adapted according to location and include, for example, free lab space for one year.