Winners Of Glaxosmithkline International Achievement Award Announced At BPC

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 11 Sep 2009 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Professor Barry Potter, Professor of Medicinal & Biological Chemistry at the University of Bath, and the late Professor Michael Reed, Professor of Steroid Biochemistry at Imperial College, London, have won the prestigious 2009 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) International Achievement Award.

Professor Potter delivered the award-winning lecture, entitled "Steroid Sulfatase Inhibitors: from Concept to Clinic," yesterday at the British Pharmaceutical Conference, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's annual flagship event.

The researchers achieved the Award in recognition of their discovery of a new family of anti-cancer drugs called steroid sulfatase inhibitors. These are currently being explored by the pharmaceutical company Ipsen in several clinical trials as a "First-in-Class" therapy, as a treatment for breast cancer and possibly some other tumours.

The pair were selected by a review panel of senior staff from GSK for their advancements in the application of scientific knowledge within the pharmaceutical sciences. Professor Potter and Professor Reed worked together for more than 18 years, pursuing a common interest of novel drug discovery and development. They have published together extensively and formed a university spin-out company to exploit their drug candidates.

Professor Potter said: "Winning the GSK International Achievement Award is a great honour and a most welcome recognition of the interdisciplinary work that Professor Reed and I have led for almost two decades. Modern clinical drug discovery is a team effort and rarely achieved in academia. We accept this award also on behalf of other talented scientific colleagues at both institutions whose contributions are warmly acknowledged."

GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, and is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.

Research released at BPC is published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.

Source
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
British Pharmaceutical Conference

• Additional
• References
• Citations