Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine awarded

William C. Cambell, Satoshi Omura and Youyou Tu awarded for research in parasitic diseases

05-Oct-2015 - Sweden

The American researcher William C. Cambell and the Japanese researcher Satoshi Omura were awarded with the half of the Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine. They received the award for their research in the field of the parasitic diseases river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. They isolated new strains of Streptomyces bacteria and extracted a efficient compoud aganinst parasites. The class of avermectines - the active compound class discovered by Omura and Cambell - proved efficient against parasites causing river blindness, lymphatic filariasis and other diseases.

The Chinese researcher Youyou Tu is awarded with the half of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for her pioneering research in the fight against malaria. Her findings based on traditional chinese medicine paired with modern research and purification methods led to the development of an efficient active compound against this parasitic disease. The compound artemsinin was extracted from Artemisia annua and is active against early development stages of the malaria parasite.

The laureates

William C. Campbell was born in 1930 in Ramelton, Ireland. After receiving a BA from Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland in 1952, he received a PhD from University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA in 1957. From 1957-1990 he was with the Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research, from 1984-1990 as Senior Scientist and Director for Assay Research and Development. Campbell is currently a Research Fellow Emeritus at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, USA.

Satoshi Ōmura was born in 1935 in the Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan and is a Japanese Citizen. He received a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1968 from University of Tokyo, Japan and a PhD in Chemistry in 1970 from Tokyo University of Science. He was a researcher at the Kitasato Institute, Japan from 1965-1971 and Professor at Kitasato University, Japan from 1975-2007. From 2007, Satoshi Ōmurahas been Professor Emeritus at Kitasato University.

Youyou Tu was born in 1930 in China and is a Chinese citizen. She graduated from the Pharmacy Department at Beijing Medical University in 1955. From 1965-1978 she was Assistant Professor at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, from 1979-1984 Associate Professor and from 1985 Professor at thesame Institute. From 2000,Tu has been Chief Professor at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Original publication

Richard W. Burg, Brinton M. Miller, Edward E. Baker, Jerome Birnbaum, Sara A. Currie, Robert Hartman, Yu-Lin Kong, Richard L. Monaghan, George Olson, Irving Putter, Josefino B. Tunac, Hyman Wallick, Edward O. Stapley, Ruiko Oiwa, and Satoshi Ōmura; "Avermectins, New Family of Potent Anthelmintic Agents: Producing Organism and Fermentation"; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy"; 1979

Thomas W. Miller, Louis Chaiet, Douglas J. Cole, Lucille J. Cole, James E. Flor, Robert T. Goegelman, Vincent P. Gullo, Henry Joshua, August J. Kempf, Wilson R. Krellwitz, Richard L. Monaghan, Robert E. Ormond, Kenneth E. Wilson, George Albers-Schönberg, and Irving Putter; "Avermectins, New Family of Potent Anthelmintic Agents: Isolation and Chromatographic Properties"; Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; 1979

Zhang Zhenghuan Fang Hongju; Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica; 16, 366-370; 1981

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