Boehringer Ingelheim Korea is receiving nominations for this year’s Wunsch Medical Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in Korean medicine.

The German drug manufacturer established the award together with the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences in 1990, naming it after Richard Wunsch, the first German physician in Korea.

Wunsch also served as a personal physician to King Gojong from 1901 to 1905.

Reflecting the growing status of the award, the prize money increased this year to 50 million won for the main award and 20 million won for the Young Scientist Award, which was added in 2000.

An independent panel consisting of medical experts and academics will review the academic achievements of the nominees who are required to have more than 20 years of experience.

The nominations will be received through July 15, the drug maker said.

“The Wunsch Medical Award, which is also called ‘Korea’s Nobel Prize,’ has maintained its top reputation through a strict screening process. We will continue efforts to make it a role model as an academic award,” Kim Seong-deok, president of KAMS, said in a press release.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)