Chemistry professor wins Heroes Award for anti-cancer drug
Published: September 21, 2006
Edward Taylor, the 83-year-old organic chemistry professor behind the new blockbuster anticancer drug Alimta, was recently awarded the 2006 Heroes of Chemistry Award for his contributions to medicine.
The award, among the most prestigious in chemistry, is given by the American Chemical Society to “chemical innovators whose work has led to the welfare and progress of humanity.”
Alimta — which was approved by the FDA in 2004 for treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma — effectively protracts patient life while minimizing suffering. It has also been approved as a second-line treatment in lung cancer.
Though Eli Lilly and Co., the corporation that marketed the drug, retains exclusive patent rights to the compound, the company pays Princeton a predetermined royalty rate.
The drug has been so successful that royalties from its worldwide sales are largely funding the construction of the University’s planned chemistry building.
“The University is certainly getting its reward from this, and I can’t think of a nicer way,” Taylor said. As inventor of the compound, Taylor, the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Organic Chemistry Emeritus, also gets a share of the royalties.
Synthesized in Taylor’s lab in 1989, the compound is now in clinical trial for all types of cancer.
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