The chemical industry recognizes significant and applicable innovations of the field. The Board of the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland introduced the Innovation Award in 1997, at the initiative of the Scientific Advisory Board, a body addressing scientific and technological questions and comprising representatives of the Finnish chemical industry, universities and research institutes. Also, the board selects the Innovation Award recipient.

The goal of the innovation award is to encourage research-based, innovative activities and to promote the commercialization of new innovations. In addition, the goal is to promote the emergence of entrepreneurship in the field. The award is granted to a person, a team or an enterprise that has introduced a promising chemical innovation that can be exploited industrially or that has already entered the utilisation phase. Activities carried out at universities, at research institutes and in enterprises are all eligible for the award.

Starting from 2006 the award is granted every two years. The award includes a certificate of honour as well as the prize sum of 20,000 euros.

Year 2010 the innovation award was granted to Orion Clean Card® PRO, a new kind of chemical test for the assessment and monitoring of surface hygiene, which was the result of collaboration between Orion Diagnostica and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.