MODAG is one of the winners of the CPHI Pharma Awards 2026. Organiser Informa Markets announced the winners on the evening of 6th October in Milan.
MODAG
An independent panel of industry experts had selected the finalists from hundreds of entries across 15 categories. In the API Development and Innovation category, the small team from Wendelsheim came out ahead of, among others, Swiss CDMO Lonza, US API manufacturer Cambrex and FUJIFILM Biotechnologies.
The CPHI Pharma Awards recognise new developments in the pharmaceutical industry every year, from drug development to manufacturing and logistics. Informa Markets has presented them since 2004, originally under the name CPhI Innovation Awards. The winners are chosen by a jury of around 25 independent industry experts.
The API Development and Innovation category covers active pharmaceutical ingredients. In the three previous years, it went to manufacturers with new production processes: Snapdragon Chemistry, part of the Cambrex group, in 2023, Lonza in 2024 and CordenPharma in 2025. MODAG is the first winner in that period to develop a drug substance itself and combine it with its own diagnostics.
The award recognises a platform that brings diagnostics and therapy together. In March 2026, MODAG launched PD DETECT, the world's first CE-certified test kit that detects pathological alpha-synuclein aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid. Until now, a Parkinson's diagnosis has relied mainly on observing clinical symptoms. Emrusolmin targets the same protein: the small-molecule oligomer modulator binds selectively to pathological alpha-synuclein oligomers. Teva is currently evaluating emrusolmin in a Phase 2 trial in multiple system atrophy (MSA). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the programme Fast Track designation.
Dr. Torsten Matthias, CEO of MODAG, said: “We can only test a drug against Parkinson's properly if we know beforehand who actually has the disease. That is why we have developed diagnostics and therapy together from the very beginning. I am delighted that CPHI has recognised exactly this combination. The award belongs to our team and to our partners at Teva and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.”
Dr. Torsten Matthias holds a doctorate in biochemistry. Before MODAG, he built AESKU.GROUP in Wendelsheim, which develops diagnostics, laboratory instruments and software and employs more than 300 people. He co-founded MODAG in 2013 and was its first investor.
MODAG builds on around 20 years of research at LMU Munich and the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen. The Michael J. Fox Foundation has supported the company since 2014 with more than seven million dollars.
