19-Year-Old Wins $100K for Making Antiviral Drugs from Corn

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A post shared by Adam Kovalčík (@adam._.kovalcik)

Sometimes, the most groundbreaking scientific discoveries come from the youngest minds. In 2024, 15-year-old Heman Bekele was named TIME’s Kid of the Year for his breakthrough cancer-curing soap. Now, another young innovator is making waves in the world of healthcare. Nineteen-year-old Adam Kovalčík, from Dulovce, Slovakia, has earned recognition for developing a faster, more affordable method of producing galidesivir, an experimental antiviral drug that targets RNA viruses like COVID-19, Ebola, and Zika.

The key to Kovalčík’s cost-saving breakthrough is a molecule called furfuryl alcohol, which is extracted from corn husks. In the lab, the young scientist carefully added different chemicals, one by one, to a flask of furfuryl alcohol, creating a crucial sugar called aza-saccharide in just seven steps. From there, it took only three more steps to produce galidesivir. Essentially, he discovered a shortcut, reducing the typical 15-step process to just 10.

Galidesivir has shown promise in early studies for fighting RNA viruses, but it hasn’t yet completed full clinical trials. Kovalčík believes that by dramatically lowering the cost of producing the drug—from $75 per gram to just $12.50—he could help push research forward. He even used his findings to create a new antiviral drug that may work even better than galidesivir.

Kovalčík presented his ideas at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Columbus, Ohio, last month. Impressed by his research, the judges awarded him the $100,000 George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award, which is the contest’s top prize.

“I cannot describe this feeling,” Kovalčík said after receiving the award. “I did not expect such a huge international competition to be won by someone from a small village in a small European country, so it was just pure shock.”

Kovalčík has already filed a preliminary patent for his production process and plans to collaborate with a research team at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava to refine it. “This could be a huge step to help prevent some of these RNA viruses,” said Chris RoDee, a chemist and one of the judges. He added that Kovalčík's chemistry was “really elegant” and his pitch to the judges was “bulletproof.”

As well as developing ways to improve healthcare, Kovalčík has plans to use his prize money to start a company that makes eco-friendly perfumes from corn.

Keep up with the brilliant young man’s scientific adventures by following Adam Kovalčík on Instagram.