Nucleus for New Therapeutic Agents

The journey from the discovery and production of new medicinal compounds to their actual clinical use is a long one. Thousands of substances are designed and tested in the laboratory; only a handful ever make it into further studies in preclinical and clinical settings. Professor Dr. René Michael Koenigs, newly appointed to the University of Bayreuth, conducts research right at the very beginning of this process: on synthetic methodology to design new active pharmaceutical ingredients. “With each of these tested substances, we create something entirely new,” says Koenigs.

He now hopes to inspire students on the Bayreuth campus with his work in synthetic methodology and drug discovery. “The spirit at the University of Bayreuth won me over from my very first meeting with the team in organic chemistry. I look forward to excellent scientific exchange on the university’s green campus,” Koenigs explains. In addition to contributing his expertise in the field of drug discovery to both research and teaching, he is keen to highlight the ecological and economic relevance of chemistry – as well as the importance it will continue to have in the future.

Koenigs studied chemistry at Goethe University Frankfurt and followed his doctoral advisor, Professor Dr Magnus Rueping, to RWTH Aachen University, where he completed his PhD. He then moved into industry, working first as a postdoctoral researcher and later as laboratory head at pharmaceutical company Grünenthal. There, he developed synthetic methods for designing new so-called non-opioid drugs for inflammatory and pain-related diseases. In 2015, he accepted a junior professorship and returned to RWTH Aachen. From 2022, he held a professorship in Organic Chemistry there and also served as a guest professor at international institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bombay, India.