The founder and long-standing CEO of PlasmidFactory GmbH, Dr. Martin Schleef, was honored in Düsseldorf with the Innovation Award 2025 of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The award is one of Germany's most prestigious innovation awards and is presented annually by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection, and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. It honors individuals who have made a lasting impact on business, science, and society through outstanding research and transfer achievements.

"This award is a great honor for me and at the same time a recognition of the work we have done together at PlasmidFactory over many years. Innovation has been our driving force from the very beginning—in particular, the development of advanced DNA solutions such as Minicircle, which have made a decisive contribution to advancing the field of cell and gene therapy. I am therefore all the more delighted that this approach is now receiving such impressive recognition," says Dr. Martin Schleef, founder and CEO of PlasmidFactory for the last 25 years.

PlasmidFactory was founded in Bielefeld in 2000. Under the leadership of Dr. Schleef, the company developed from a spin-off into a leading international supplier of high-quality DNA products. Today, PlasmidFactory supplies plasmids and minicircles for the production of adeno-associated vectors (AAV), mRNA, and cell therapies, among other things, up to GMP quality to academic institutions, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. With these products, the company provides crucial support for research and clinical development in the fields of gene and cell therapy, as well as vaccine development.

"We are proud to continue this success story. The NRW Innovation Award is not only a recognition of Dr. Schleef's achievements, but also an incentive for all of us to continue actively shaping the future of biotechnology, and cell and gene therapy in particular. His pioneering work is the foundation on which we are building today with our team – and which we are consistently developing further with our high-quality DNA solutions," emphasizes Dr. Dirk Winnemöller, CEO of PlasmidFactory.

With 25 years of experience, an international customer base, and state-of-the-art production facilities, PlasmidFactory is now an important partner for the development and manufacture of novel therapies.