Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer chose the Austrian Drug Screening Institute (ADSI) in Innsbruck for his visit to Tyrol on 22 March. Together with Governor Günther Platter, he was given a tour of the high-tech laboratories at the Innsbruck phytoscreening and research centre. The Rector of the University of Innsbruck, Tilmann Märk, also took part in the visit. The Federal Chancellor and Governor were given in-depth insights into the methods of plant screening and the cooperation with the national and international partners of ADSI GmbH.

Günther Bonn from the Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry at the University of Innsbruck, who founded and established ADSI in 2012, explained the far-reaching development prospects of ADSI and also gave the guests a tour of the laboratories of Bionorica research GmbH and the Michael Popp Institute at the University of Innsbruck. The Federal Chancellor was particularly interested in the plans for the Phytovalley Tirol Science Centre in Kematen near Innsbruck, another component of Phytovalley Tirol.

Globally unique alliance in phytoscreening:
Bionorica, Michael Popp Institute and ADSI

Since 1989, Michael A. Popp, a qualified pharmacist, has been managing the company based in the Upper Palatinate. The company was founded in 1933 by his grandfather Josef Popp, a trained engineer. Today, Bionorica is one of the world's leading manufacturers of herbal medicines. The honorary professor has been lecturing on analytical phytochemistry and pharmaceutical biology at the University of Innsbruck since 1999. Over 1,600 employees at Bionorica SE are working worldwide to decode the great active ingredient potential of plants. The company's goal is to develop highly effective and safe herbal medicines.

Since 2012, Bionorica has been a partner of the Austrian Drug Screening Institute GmbH (ADSI) based in Innsbruck, which is co-financed by the state and federal governments and is the world's first research institute where industry and science work together to search for natural medicinal substances. The ADSI was founded in 2012 by the two Innsbruck university professors Günther Bonn (Institute for Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry at the University of Innsbruck) and Lukas Huber (Cell Biology, Biocentre of the Medical University of Innsbruck).

The Michael Popp Institute began its research work in autumn 2019. It was endowed with 3.5 million euros from Bionorica and 1.5 million euros from the state of Tyrol. The institute focuses on the development of new plant-based active ingredients for integrated natural product research.

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