On January 27, 2017 Ralf Bartenschlager was awarded the Science Award of the Hector Foundation, endowed with 150.000 Euro.
With this Award, the Foundation honors his outstanding achievements in basic clinical/medical research on reproduction strategies and immune biology of hepatitis C virus and dengue virus. The cell culture models developed by Ralf Bartenschlager laid the foundation for the development of antiviral medications against HCV, which eliminate the virus in 95% of treated patients.