The Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s drug research start-up company has been honoured as one of the winners of the Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2023 under the category of Science Start-ups (Falling Walls Venture) for its development of new antibiotic drug candidates.
Led by Dr Cong MA, Associate Professor of Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology at PolyU, Ynno Med Ltd., a PolyU spin-off company, is among the 25 global winners of the Falling Walls Science Start-ups.
The Falling Walls awards aim to foster research and innovation across all disciplines by celebrating cutting-edge discoveries. The Falling Walls Foundation, based in Berlin, established the awards to acknowledge the most recent breakthroughs in science and society worldwide.
Dr MA’s awarded start-up is dedicated to the discovery and development of first-in-class antimicrobial drugs, using the in-house developed AI-assisted technology. The key objective is to combat the ever-present situation of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
Through the utilisation of AI drug design methods, the research team apply these technologies to invent new antibiotic drug candidates capable of eradicating multidrug-resistant bacteria and suppressing generation of new resistance.
Dr Ma said, “Being the only winner from Hong Kong for this Science Start-ups award, we consider this is an encouragement and recognition of Hong Kong’s prowess on the international platform. Through this opportunity, we aim to demonstrate our dedication to knowledge transfer from the university and make impactful contribution to the society.”
Dr Ma’s research work focuses on drug design and discovery. New antibiotic drug candidates are under preclinical development in Ynno Med, with plans to proceed to clinical trials in the future. Dr Ma said, “The award bestowed great recognition to our achievements to date.”
