2.5 million euros for five research teams from Bavaria

• With 2.5 million euros in total funding, the Bavarian m⁴ Award supports innovative biomedical research projects.

• The selected research projects deal with the major widespread diseases Alzheimer’s, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis and provide solutions for RNA therapies.
• The prize money is intended to enable the winners to spin off from the academy.
• State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt emphasizes the key role of the m⁴ Award for the transfer of excellent research into medical application and the strengthening of Bavaria as biotech location.

The five winners of this year’s m⁴ Award pre-seed competition have been announced. Each winning team will receive up to 500,000 euros for their project to solve urgent medical challenges. The prize was awarded by Bio^M together with the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy on July 2, 2025 at the Bio^M conference BayOConnect – Forum for Biotech & LifeScience in Munich. 

With prize money totaling 2.5 million euros, the m⁴ Award supports the further development and validation of innovative project ideas – with the aim of preparing their spin-off.

Five winning teams were able to convince the jury of high-ranking experts with their outstanding biomedical research projects and prevail among 48 excellent applications from research institutions throughout Bavaria:

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. The treatment of this currently incurable brain disease is one of the greatest challenges facing medicine today. Project blockALZ at the University Hospital of Würzburg is working on a new therapeutic approach that specifically prevents the formation and aggregation of the tau protein in the brain, which impairs the cognitive abilities of those affected.

EpiCure is developing epigenetically active agents for cancer therapy at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München with improved efficacy and reduced toxicity. Despite enormous progress in research, more than 750,000 people die every year from hematologic neoplasms, malignant diseases of the blood and lymphatic system.

Liver metastases are one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths. In its iLivE project, the team from Universitätsklinikum Erlangen has identified a protein that specifically attracts tumor cells to the liver and promotes their growth there. With its new therapy concept, iLivE switches off this key protein in the liver in order to prevent the colonization of cancer cells.

SYNTRA from Helmholtz Munich uses the latest developments in the field of generative AI for the targeted further development of transport vehicles for therapeutic RNA. The modular platform technology enables high-precision, cell-type-specific delivery of RNA and is expected to be used in a variety of genetic and non-genetic diseases in the future.

In the TBrake project, researchers at the University Hospital Regensburg have developed new active substances for the targeted suppression of overactive immune cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Around one in a hundred adults in Germany suffers from the most common inflammatory joint disease.

Prof. Ralf Huss, Managing Director of Bio^M, welcomed the audience. He was impressed by the innovative projects of the winning teams: "The projects honored today are exemplary of the scientific inventiveness and medical innovation in Bavaria. With the m⁴ Award, we are creating the crucial bridge between research and patient-oriented application – and thus laying the foundation for the therapies of tomorrow."

Bavaria’s State Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs Tobias Gotthardt underlined the importance of the program: "The m⁴ Award is an economic policy instrument with a leverage effect. With the award, we are specifically promoting the great potential of biomedical research in Bavaria. 17 spin-offs and over 550 million euros in follow-up investments show this: Our innovation funding is paying off – for jobs, growth and the future of biomedicine in Bavaria. This is how we turn ideas into markets and science into economic strength."

"The large number of submissions and their high scientific quality show the excellent start-up potential of Bavaria’s research institutions,” explained Dr. Petra Burgstaller. “The m⁴ Award has established itself as a reliable springboard for biomedical start-up projects – and we accompany the teams with great passion on their journey from idea to implementation," added Christina Enke-Stolle, who coordinates the m⁴ Award program at Bio^M together with Petra Burgstaller.

An outstanding example of the sustainable success of the program is the biotech start-up Tubulis from Martinsried, which received the m⁴ Award in 2017. Today, the company is one of the leading innovators in the field of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and has already raised around 200 million euros in follow-up investments. Currently, Tubulis has two drug candidates in clinical trials.

With the m⁴ Award, initiated in 2011 by Bio^M, the network organization of the biotechnology industry in Munich and Bavaria, the Free State of Bavaria promotes innovative products, technologies or services of young companies that decisively advance the further development of medicine of the future. The prize is awarded every two years, and 17 spin-offs have been realized since then.

The winners of the m⁴ Award 2025 with short profiles of the projects

• Dr. Michael Briese
• Prof. Dr. Michael Sendtner

University Hospital of Würzburg

blockALZ – Blocking axonal Tau synthesis as new therapeutic strategy for treatment of Alzheimer‘s disease

Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the biggest challenges in current medicine. A major hallmark of AD is the aggregation of the Tau protein in axons of nerve cells. We have developed novel therapeutic antisense oligonucleotides (MAPT-ASOs), which block Tau protein synthesis selectively in axons and thereby prevent Tau aggregation in a highly targeted manner. The m⁴ award will enable preclinical optimization and testing of these lead candidates, which provides the basis for further clinical development in a spin-off company.
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• Dr. Matthias Heiß
• Dr. Corinna Pleintinger
• Yasmin Gärtner
• Prof. Dr. Thomas Carell
• Dr. Mike Rothe
• Prof. Dr. Franziska Traube

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

EpiCure – Development of Next-Generation Epigenetic Cancer Therapeutics

EpiCure develops epigenetically active agents for cancer therapy. Despite tremendous research progress, more than 750,000 people die of hematologic neoplasms every year because current therapies are limited by high toxicity or limited efficacy. EpiCure’s lead candidate is based on targeted molecular modification and compared to the standard of care shows significantly improved efficacy with 100-fold reduced toxicity. The m⁴ award will fund critical preclinical studies that will lay the regulatory foundation for first-in-human studies and advance EpiCure’s spin-out. (https://www.linkedin.com/company/epicure-pharma).
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• PD Dr. Dr. Peter Dietrich
• Dr. Laura Wormser
• Dr. Michael Hannus

Universitätsklinikum Erlangen

iLivE – Inhibition of the Liver Ecosystem

Liver metastases are among the most common causes of cancer-related deaths. The reason why almost all cancer types prefer to form metastases in the liver remains poorly understood. Within the iLivE project, we identified a protein produced by liver cells that actively attracts tumor cells and promotes their colonization and growth within the liver. Based on this finding, iLivE developed a novel therapeutic concept: instead of targeting tumor cells directly, they use RNA interference (RNAi) to specifically target this key molecule in the liver. This prevents the formation of a pro-metastatic niche – an innovative approach that shifts the therapeutic focus to the tumor microenvironment.
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• Dr. Florian Giesert
• Prof. Dr. Fabian Theis
• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wurst
• Leon Hetzel
• Dr. Christoph Gruber

Helmholtz Munich

SYNTRA: AI-assisted development of synthetic RNA transfer vehicles

The targeted delivery of therapeutic RNA is crucial for modern gene therapies – yet it remains a major challenge. SYNTRA is developing RNA transfer vehicles (STVs) with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) that, for the first time, enable safe and precise RNA therapy. Generative AI is used to create design variants of these vehicles. This modularity makes it possible to deliver therapeutic RNA with high precision and efficiency specifically into disease-relevant cell types. In this way, STVs enable the targeted treatment of a wide range of genetic and non-genetic diseases.
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• PD Dr. Sigrid Bülow
• Martina Toelge
• Christina Pfab
• Sarah Hirsch
• Lisa Reinstein

University Hospital Regensburg

TBrake – Attenuation of excessive T-cell activation in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune disease which leads to severe impairment of patients, especially when established treatment regimens fail. The inhibitory antibody TBrake is highly efficient in controlling the activation of T cells and other immune cells by targeting a previously unknown, highly inflammatory pathway. During the funding by the m⁴ Award, TBrake will be optimized and validated in preclinical studies. Along with our expertise and the input of experienced partners, this milestone forms the basis for the progression to the clinical phase and the foundation of a successful spin-off company.

For the individual research projects at the various Bavarian research institutes, please contact the press offices there.

Photo material:

Winner’s group photo, videos as well as individual winner photos upon request or from July 3, 2025, 11 a.m. via download at https://www.bio-m.org/m4award2025_photos.