Merck Serono announces winners of 2014 Innovation Cup

Merck Serono has presented its Innovation Cup for 2014 to a group of researchers carrying out groundbreaking cancer studies.

The trophy was awarded alongside a 10,000 euro (7,970 pounds) grant to Team Oncology, a group consisting of PhD and post-doctoral researchers from the University of California San Francisco, Karlsruher Institute of Technology, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Yale School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

During a week-long Innovation Summer Camp, they – along with five other teams made up of 28 participants in total – studied the essentials of drug development and generated new ideas in various clinical areas, receiving guidance and support from Merck Serono coaches.

Team Oncology won the overall prize for their ideas for creating an innovative approach to antibody-drug conjugates that may be used to fight cancer.

Dr Ulrich Betz, department head for the innovation and entrepreneurship incubator at Merck Serono, said: "The goal is to educate participants about careers in the biopharmaceutical industry and build excitement around innovations that have the potential to transform lives through medical science."

This comes after the firm consolidated its complete grants portfolio under a new programme called Merck Global Grants last month.