The jury members of the Hungarian Innovation Association include renowned bodies such as the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and even the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH). Among the many applicants to the "From Basic Research to Market" innovation competition, the latter found TargetEx Ktf to be the most successful, and we were included in the list of winners.
The huge recognition was a new boost for the whole company. In previous years, the Covid pandemic had increased our workload and it was a relief for all colleagues to have our hard work noticed by others.
The award was presented by the President of the Office, Ádám Kiss, to our CEO and Research Director, Dr Zsolt Lőrincz. After the uplifting moments of the award ceremony, Dr Zsolt Lőrincz thanked his mentors who saw the potential of applied research more than 20 years ago and gave him the direction to start a business. The fruit of this effort is the Innovation Award, which we received for "the development of our protein expression and protein purification platform."
‘the Innovation Prize has been awarded every year to companies that "have made a significant innovation in the year preceding the award and have achieved outstanding benefits as a result."’
The technological platform developed is capable of producing and purifying any protein in recombinant form in a suitable host cell (bacterial, yeast, insect or mammalian cell) starting from the amino acid sequence of the protein. In many cases, proteins with more advantageous properties are required, which can be achieved by protein engineering. Increasing reaction rates, improving thermal stability, modifying salt tolerance and developing proteins that are more resistant to environmental influences require considerable innovation.
The huge recognition was a boost for the whole company. In previous years, the Covid pandemic had increased our workload and it was a relief for all colleagues to have our hard work noticed by prestigious organizations.
The Prize has reassured us that we are on the right track and that our work is truly beneficial to our partners, the research community and the whole country as well.
After receiving the award, we set our sights on further innovative plans. We are planning to stay busy and keep working hard. Thank you very much for the support.