PolyU Science Scholars won prestigious awards at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

We are thrilled to share that our Innovations seized a total of eight accolades at the 51^st International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, securing one Special Award, one Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury, five Gold Medals and one Silver Medal. These remarkable achievements demonstrate the Faculty’s research excellence and global influence in frontier technology development.

The project titled “PD-001R: A First-in-Class Candidate for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases”, developed by the research team led by Prof. Simon LEE Ming-yuen, Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Biomedical Sciences and Chinese Medicine Innovation, Chair Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, and Founder of PolyU startup AIM Pharmaceutical International Limited, in collaboration with Dr ZHAO Chen, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition and Chief Technology Officer of AIM Pharmaceutical International Limited, won the Prize of Korea Invention Promotion Association and a Gold Medal. PD-001R is a first-in-class, novel small-molecule drug candidate for Parkinson’s disease (PD), derived from Alpinia oxyphylla Fructus and synthesised as a new molecular entity. Its primary mechanism of action is the promotion of pathological α-synuclein aggregate degradation. Preclinical studies show that PD-001R efficiently crosses the blood–brain barrier and exerts neuroprotective effects in animal models of PD and Alzheimer’s disease. It also exhibits favourable oral bioavailability and safety.

The 51^st Geneva Inventions Expo, a widely recognised annual event dedicated exclusively to inventions, attracted over a thousand entries from about 40 countries and regions. For details, please refer to the Appendix or visit the website of the PolyU Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship Office.

List of award wining projects: