Unprecedented Win for Department Start-up at Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year 2023 (Category: Science Start-ups / Falling Walls Venture)
Ynno Med Limited (YnnoMed), co-founded by Professor Xiao Yang, Assistant Professor at the Department of Microbiology at CUHK, has been selected as one of the 25 Winners – the ONLY team from Hong Kong – in the category of Science Start-ups at the Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year 2023 for establishing a platform for drug discovery and development with the use of in-house AI-assisted technology to streamline processes and reduce costs in pre-clinical stages of drug R&D, ultimately accelerating the availability of new drugs.
Addressing unmet clinical needs in infectious diseases, Prof Yang and her team at YnnoMed have pioneered the development of bacterial transcription inhibitors as new antimicrobial drug candidates to combat the ever-present threat posed by antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. “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,” said Prof Yang. “Through this opportunity, we aim to demonstrate our dedication to knowledge transfer from the university and make impactful contribution to the society.”
About Falling Walls
The Falling Walls Foundation is a non-profit organisation supported by the Ministry for Education and Research of Germany. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009, the Falling Walls Science Summit has since been hosted annually to showcase and recognise the most recent breakthroughs in science and society.
This year Falling Walls celebrates achievements in 8 scientific, innovation and humanistic categories. The 2023 laureate of the “Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year” in the category of Science Start-ups (Falling Walls Venture) wins the award after the fast-paced pitch event where all 25 Winners (out of 113 Finalists) were invited to participate in-person in Berlin.