Innovation Award from the Society for Phytotherapy for Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Schmidt, Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology and Phytochemistry at the University of Münster
For the discovery and research of a new therapy for the serious tropical infectious disease cutaneous leishmaniasis using a well-known European herbal medicine, arnica tincture, the Society for Phytotherapy (GPT) awarded its Innovation Prize at its annual congress (25-27 September 2025, Hannoversch Münden) to Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Schmidt and colleagues from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology and Phytochemistry at the University of Münster and their cooperation partners led by Prof. Dr. Sara M. Robledo from the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia.
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the so-called neglected tropical diseases for which there is an urgent need for new, effective, safe and affordable drugs. These diseases are rampant among socially disadvantaged populations in tropical countries, which do not represent an attractive market for large pharmaceutical companies. According to these research findings, arnica tincture, which is approved in this country for the treatment of common musculoskeletal disorders, contains ingredients that efficiently kill the leishmaniasis pathogens and at the same time stop the inflammatory process. When treated with arnica tincture, the otherwise very poorly healing ulcers in test animals disappear much more effectively than with the much more expensive standard therapy with antimony compounds, which is accompanied by side effects. The first clinical trial with infected humans, which has now been successfully completed in Colombia, therefore gives KL patients in many countries new hope.
These latest results are published here: