• A panel of experts chose Dragan Grabulovski, Ph.D., Philipp Spycher, Ph.D., and Isabella Attinger-Toller, Ph.D. of Araris Biotech, from a pool of talented life science entrepreneurs.
• The founding team is pioneering a revolutionary technology to create a new generation of targeted cancer treatments.
• Committee members presented the award, including the EUR 100,000 prize, on Thursday, July 3, 2025.

Munich, Germany, July 04, 2025 – The selection committee announced today that the founders of Araris Biotech, Dragan Grabulovski, Ph.D., Philipp Spycher, Ph.D., and Isabella Attinger-Toller, Ph.D., have been selected as this year’s winners. The award recognizes exceptional entrepreneurial and scientific achievements, as well as innovative ideas within the life sciences. Araris Biotech’s founding team stood out for its development of a novel technology in the antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) space, and for successfully validating this innovation through partnerships and a preclinical exit. This novel drug class has the potential to significantly improve targeted cancer therapy development, benefiting cancer patients worldwide.

“On behalf of the award committee and expert jury, we congratulate Isabella Attinger-Toller, Dragan Grabulovski and Philipp Spycher. The expert jury and we selected the Araris Biotech founders as winners due to their combined leadership, entrepreneurial skills, and scientific excellence. Following Taiho Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of Araris, we believe this award further acknowledges the founding team’s ongoing growth and promising future. This team has demonstrated how a new idea, a sharp focus on translation, and entrepreneurial courage can combine to launch a new generation of targeted cancer therapies,” said Andreas Strüngmann, M.D., and Thomas Strüngmann, Ph.D., in a joint statement. “It was a privilege to engage with such a diverse and forward-thinking group of start-ups from the DACH region. Learning about the finalists and their achievements made the final decision a challenge.”

The finalists comprised three companies: [Company Names Placeholder], whose founders represent the entrepreneurial potential and scientific diversity of the DACH region’s life sciences sector. These finalists span disciplines including targeted cancer therapies, regenerative neuroscience, and cancer drug resistance. Following presentations to the expert jury about their entrepreneurial and scientific achievements, Dragan Grabulovski, Ph.D., Philipp Spycher, Ph.D., and Isabella Attinger-Toller, Ph.D., were announced as the winners and will jointly receive EUR 100,000.

“We are honored to have our vision and achievements recognized by the Strüngmann Award. As the founding team, we have always been confident in our new technology and its potential value for patients. This award, along with the Taiho Pharmaceuticals acquisition, validates our commitment, shared journey, and the hard work behind our success,” said Dragan Grabulovski, Ph.D., CEO of Araris Biotech, representing the founding team.

The Araris Biotech founders – experienced biotech entrepreneur Dragan Grabulovski, Ph.D., (CEO), visionary scientist Philipp Spycher, Ph.D., (CSO), and translational scientist Isabella Attinger-Toller, Ph.D., (CTO) – can look back on one of the most successful Swiss biotech startups in recent years. Spun out of the Paul Scherrer Institute (part of the ETH domain) in 2019, the team developed AraLinQ™, a novel ADC linker-payload technology enabling one-step payload attachment to off-the-shelf antibodies without prior antibody engineering. This approach offers new possibilities in oncology and potential applications in other therapeutic areas.

In just a few years, the Araris team raised over CHF 40 million, established strategic partnerships with Chugai (Roche) and Johnson & Johnson, and were acquired by Taiho Pharmaceutical in March 2025 for up to USD $1.14 billion. Through these achievements, the three winners demonstrate the DACH region’s potential to translate scientific excellence into global innovation.

About the Strüngmann Award
Established in 2024, the award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs with revolutionary ideas in the DACH life science sector. It aims to reward exceptional achievements with a prestigious prize and advance the next generation of leaders in this field. The award is named in honor of twin brothers Andreas Strüngmann, M.D., and Thomas Strüngmann, Ph.D., significant entrepreneurs, visionaries, and investors in the life science sector. As the founders of Hexal, they achieved extraordinary entrepreneurial success and have continued to build and develop leading companies across the industry for over 20 years, including Mainz-based BioNTech. More information is available at [website address].

About Araris Biotech AG
Araris Biotech is a leading biotech company pioneering the future of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and redefining targeted cancer therapy. Araris’ vision is a world without chemotherapy, and its proprietary conjugation and multi-payload technology represent a significant advancement in ADC design, transforming any antibody into an ADC with improved safety and efficacy. By enabling the attachment of multiple, synergistic cancer-fighting payloads to a single antibody in an efficient one-step process, Araris is creating a new generation of smart delivery systems that provide the potency of combination chemotherapy in a targeted manner to tackle cancer resistance. Araris is a wholly owned subsidiary of Taiho Pharmaceutical following its acquisition in March 2025. Further information about our science and pipeline is available at [website address].

Media Contact
Trophic Communications
Stephanie May, Ph.D. and Anja Heuer
Phone: +49 (0) 171 185 56 82
Email: [email protected]

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