Welcome to the Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines
Every day, medicinal products make a decisive contribution to prevent diseases – especially serious ones – or alleviating ailments, extending the life expectancy of patients and improving their quality of life. In addition to our high expectations of the efficacy and safety of medicines, the pharmaceutical quality of the products is also particularly important with regard to patient care.
The Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines (FFQM) is committed to promoting research activities that are designated to optimally assure the quality of medicinal products in Germany and Europe or, if necessary, further improving them, especially if they are manufactured outside the country. Main concern is the development of advanced processes, the implementation of innovative technologies and their standardization as well as a critical verification of quality assurance concepts.
Download the FFQM flyer here (PDF-File, ~200kB)
Recent news
October 1, 2025 · Prices and Awards
PD Dr. Christian Steuer received the DPhG Quality of Medicines Award 2025
At the DPhG Annual Conference in Freiburg, Dr. Christian Steuer received the DPhG Quality of Medicines Award 2025. The Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines (FFQM), as the initiator and sponsor of the prize, congratulates Dr. Steuer and his team on this recognition of their scientific research projects in the standardization and authentication of complex herbal products. The award was given for the publication on the investigation of essential oils “Exploring new dimensions: Single and multi-block analysis of essential oils using DBDI-MS and FT-IR for enhanced authenticity control.” This publication represents an important and innovative contribution to the product safety of herbal medicines.
The award winner is Senior scientist and Group Leader pharmaceutical analytics at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences and head of the Pharmaceutical Analysis research group at ETH Zurich.
September 26, 2025 · Funding Projekts
BOTCAT: Biomarkers for controlling targeted oral cancer therapy
Over the past two decades, cancer therapy has undergone a paradigm shift with the introduction of targeted oral kinase inhibitors. However, these often exhibit off-target effects, i.e., therapy-limiting side effects that necessitate discontinuation of treatment. This is also observed in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with the oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) axitinib and cabozantinib.
The Working Group Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy, Department of Pharmacy, LMU Munich, headed by Prof. Dr. Oliver Scherf-Clavel, is part of an interdisciplinary team involved in the ON-TARGET study. This is a multicenter, non-interventional study on therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in patients with RCC who are being treated with axitinib or cabozantinib. The overall aim of the study is to improve therapeutic quality, in particular the efficacy and tolerability of the two kinase inhibitors, using a closed-loop TDM approach.
A particular focus is on identifying predictive biomarkers as indicators of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) that could potentially be avoided through targeted dose adjustments.
As part of the project, Scherf-Clavel’s working group is conducting the pilot study “Biomarkers for the control of targeted oral cancer therapy (BOTCAT)”, which is funded by the Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines. BOTCAT initially focuses on the proteomic analysis of selected patient samples that are temporally associated with the occurrence of ADRs. The aim is to create a database and generate hypotheses for further analysis.
The interdisciplinary research strategy aims to identify robust, predictive biomarkers to enable personalized treatment with axitinib and cabozantinib for patients with renal cell carcinoma.
September 6, 2025 · News
Pearls of Bioequivalence Award 2026 - Call for Submissions
Pearls of Bioequivalence & Biopharmaceutics Award 2026 presented by European Federation Pharmaceutical Scientists (EUFEPS) on initiative and funding by the Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines (FFQM)
The EUFEPS/FFQM Pearls of Bioequivalence & Biopharmaceutics Award is aimed at recognizing outstanding research projects in the fields of biopharmaceutics and bioequivalence as well as the development of innovative delivery systems improving the in-vivo performance of their active ingredients and, thereby, extend the existing treatment options.
This award was originally established by the Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines to support the Global Bioequivalence Harmonization Initiative (GBHI). In the future the prize, endowed with 2,000.00 €, will be awarded every second year jointly by the FFQM and the EUFEPS.
Pharmaceutical scientists are invited to apply for the award by submitting their own applications. Moreover, it is also possible to nominate research projects from other scientists/groups for this award.
Submission Guidelines:
Eligibility: Applications must be based on publications in peer reviewed scientific journal or meaningful summaries of research projects related to bioequivalence, biopharmaceutics or the development of innovative drug delivery systems and should not be older than three years at the time of submission.
Content Requirements: The submissions should demonstrate a significant scientific contribution and show originality and relevance to the field. They should provide insights into methodologies, findings, or applications that contribute in a relevant way to the state of knowledge in bioequivalence and biopharmaceutics.
Submission Format: All entries must be submitted in a clear and concise format and include the following:
Title of the publication or project
Author(s) and their contribution(s) to the project
Synopsis of the research project or copy of the publication
Deadline for Submission: November 30, 2025
Submission Procedure: Applications should be submitted by email to info@frankfurt-foundation.org with the subject line „Pearls of Bioequivalence & Biopharmaceutics Award Submission.“
Evaluation Criteria: Submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
Scientific novelty and significance
Clarity and quality of presentation
Impact on the field of bioequivalence and biopharmaceutics
Award Announcement: The winner will be announced on the websites of the FFQM (https://frankfurt-foundation.org) and EUFEPS (https://eufeps.org). The award will be presented at the EUFEPS Annual Conference 2026 in Naples/Italy (27-29 May 2026).
We look forward to receiving your submission(s) and celebrating the advancements in bioequivalence & biopharmaceutical research.
August 25, 2025 · Prices and Awards
Frankfurt Foundation sponsors first “RMU Award for Pharmaceutical Research & Innovative Medical Therapies”
The Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines is pleased to be able to recognize outstanding scientific concepts with the “RMU Award for Pharmaceutical Research and Innovative Medical Therapies,” thereby helping committed young scientists gain the visibility they deserve.
The Rhine-Main Universities (RMU), the strategic alliance of Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Technical University of Darmstadt, will award this prize, donated by the Frankfurt Foundation, for the first time in 2025.
The award is intended to recognize outstanding scientific achievements and innovative research ideas by postdocs at the RMU. It will be awarded for scientifically sound and creative research ideas. The selection of award winners will focus on the presentation of innovative and forward-looking approaches in research. The aim is to support the transition to the next qualification or career phase and to highlight innovative ideas at an early stage
The nomination deadline is September 30, 2025.
The RMU Award for Pharmaceutical Research & Innovative Medical Therapies is endowed with 10,000 euros. The prize money is to be used at the recipient’s discretion.
August 22, 2025 · Funding Projekts
Thousands of deaths each year due to antibiotic resistance – the FFQM promotes the clinical application of personalized phage therapy
As can currently be read in pharmaceutical journals, for example, according to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, resistant pathogens are directly responsible for thousands of deaths. The evaluation refers to the year 2019.
Against the background of the increasing spread of multi-resistant bacterial pathogens, alternative anti-infective therapy approaches such as bacteriophage therapy (phage therapy) are becoming increasingly relevant.
The Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines is therefore pleased to support the PerPhage project, which aims to further develop a quality assurance concept for personalized phage preparations for anti-infective therapy.
Standardized, quality-assured manufacturing processes are required in order to use bacteriophages in a targeted and safe manner. Once these processes have been established, the clinical application of a tailored, safe, and effective complementary phage therapy can be developed for patients in whom antibiotic therapy has failed
The project is led by PD Dr. Silvia Würstle, MBA, Infectious Diseases Section of the II. Medical Clinic at Goethe University Frankfurt Medical Center.
July 12, 2025 · Prices and Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Professor Amidon.
With this award, the Frankfurt Foundation Quality of Medicines (FFQM) recognizes the extraordinary achievements of Professor Gordon L. Amidon (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA) in the field of pharmaceutical sciences and his outstanding contributions to improving the quality and efficacy of medicinal drugs.
The award ceremony took place during the symposium “Advances in Predictive Biopharmaceutics, Drug Product Quality and Patient Benefit” on July 11, 2025, in Mainz, a joint event organized by Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) and the FFQM.
In his laudatory speech, Prof. Peter Langguth, pharmaceutical technologist at JGU, highlighted Dr. Gordon Amidon’s scientific contributions, which have improved the understanding of drug absorption and significantly influenced the assessment of the equivalence of generic drugs through in vitro studies. He played a decisive role in the development of the Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) and its regulatory implementation as the BCS-based biowaiver concept.
Professor Langguth, his students, and the FFQM congratulate the award winner on this well-deserved honor.
