The Swiss Chemical Society has awarded the “Sandmeyer Award 2012” to a research team from Solvias. Working for Sanofi Pasteur, the team developed an innovative, efficient and fully synthetic process for protoporphyrin IX, a precursor of hemoglobin.


A five-person research team from the service company Solvias has received the “Sandmeyer Award 2012 – sponsored by KPMG.” “We are honoring the conceptually innovative and industrially developed synthesis of porphyrins,” says Prof. E. Kündig, President of the Swiss Chemical Society (SCS), justifying the decision. “These preparations are completely free from impurities of animal origin, which represents a significant improvement in the production of protoporphyrin IX derivatives.”

The research team is made up of Dr. Dirk Spielvogel, Dr. Dietmar Flubacher, Dr. Andreas Boudier, Markus Müller and Dr. Pierre Martin from the Chemical Development and Catalysis department at Solvias AG. Solvias is one of the leading service companies involved in analysis and synthesis relating to the development and production of pharmaceutical ingredients. For further details see the official press releases below.