World map folded out of paper as a virus

Digital edition 3/2020

Medicine for the world

Vaccination: How protective envelopes of lipid nanoparticles smooth the path for modern vaccines - Collagen: A building block of life, free of animal material - Tablets: New therapeutic options thanks to calcium silicate

Let's go

Lipid Nanoparticles

Reliable Transport

High tech is coming to the fore in the struggle against viruses and bacteria. Modern vaccines transport genetic information from pathogens into target human cells in order to trigger an immune reaction there. The transportation of these “blueprints” requires tiny lipid nanoparticles of the kind that Evonik is producing in Canada

Chart

An overview of vaccination methods

Vaccinations train the immune defenses against dangerous pathogens. Various processes have already been established for many decades. In the future, genetically based vaccines could join them—in the fight against the coronavirus and beyond

Children and adults stand in line and receive sugar cubes with polio vaccine.

Pharma

Milestones in the history of vaccination

For more than 200 years, vaccinations have been protecting people from diseases, some of them even life-threatening. This short video highlights some particularly significant breakthroughs.

Opinion

Progress thanks to the chemical industry

The Freiburg-based virologist Professor Hartmut Hengel talks about the prospects for the rapid development of a vaccine against the coronavirus, the advantages of RNA technology, and the role of the chemical industry in new vaccination procedures

Opinion

Expensive health?

What is high-tech medicine worth? And what’s a proper orientation mark for its price? A debate between the Brusselsbased biotech lobbyist Nathalie Moll and Dr. Carlos Correa, head of a think tank in Geneva that represents the interests of developing countries

Collagen

A versatile helper

Collagen is playing an increasingly important role in medicine. However, the use of this structural protein is increasingly subject to criticism due to its animal origin. Evonik’s successful development of a collagen platform based on fermentation is a biotechnology breakthrough that is setting new benchmarks for quality

Collagen

This is collagen

Collagen is a protein that strengthens skin, bones and connective tissue and gives them elasticity. We show where it is used.

Pharma

Full effect

The use of therapeutic proteins is spreading worldwide. While these active ingredients promise to bring about major medical advances, some have the problem that they are quickly broken down in the human body before they can release their full therapeutic effect. This might be offset by chains of polyethylene glycol, which Evonik manufactures at pharmaceutical quality

Pharma

Robust and fast-dissolving

Orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) make many patients’ lives easier. Innovative auxiliary materials made of calcium silicate are improving the everyday practicality of these medications—and making them even more versatile

Foresight

A SMALL INTERVENTION

Making motors from an atom? Tiny particles that carry out transportation tasks? Nanorobotics will make tremendous technical progress possible in medicine and other fields.

Excursion boats are moored on a white beach in crystal-clear water. There are only a few people on the beach, behind which a forest begins.

Evonik Country

Indonesia: An Island Nation of Superlatives

Indonesia has the world’s fourth-largest population—almost 270 million, and growing rapidly. This country, which is characterized by its many volcanoes, encompasses more than 17,000 islands and has the highest biodiversity worldwide. Some insights into the world’s biggest island nation and its path to the future.

In my Element

“I love and hate chlorine”

The diver Tina Punzel (24) participated in the Olympic Games in Rio. Her next goal is the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year. That’s why she’s training more than four hours per day, half of them at an indoor pool.