The 2010 IUPAC-Richter Prize in Medicinal Chemistry has been awarded to Dr. Arun K Ghosh, Ian P. Rothwell Distinguished Professor at Purdue University.

    Dr. Ghosh received this award in recognition of his outstanding use of structure-based design of HIV-1 protease inhibitors using his novel concept of “backbone binding” to withstand drug resistance. This work produced the novel drug darunavir which was approved by the FDA in 2006 as the first treatment for multidrug resistant HIV. He has also pioneered structure - based design of ß-secretase inhibitors for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. One such compound has now entered into advanced clinical trials.

    The IUPAC-Richter Prize, comprising a plaque and a cheque for USD 10,000, will be presented on September 7, 2010 at the 21st European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry International Symposium in Brussels, Belgium. The plaque will be signed by Prof. Nicole Moreau, President of IUPAC, Erik Bogsch, Chief Executive Officer of Gedeon Richter plc (Budapest, Hungary), and Professor Robin Ganellin, Chair of the IUPAC-Richter Prize selection committee. Dr. Ghosh will present a lecture at this Symposium and also, on June 9, at the 32nd National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium. in Minneapolis.

    Arun Ghosh was born and raised in Calcutta, India. He studied Chemistry at the University of Calcutta and received his BSc degree in 1979. He then attended the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur to obtain a master’s degree in Chemistry in 1981. After this, he came to the USA to study for a PhD degree with Professor Alan P. Kozikowski at the University of Pittsburgh, which he received in 1985. Following this, he spent three years as a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University with Professor E.J. Corey. In 1988, he joined Merck Research Laboratories at West Point, Pennsylvania, as a Medicinal Chemist where he worked on several areas including HIV protease and reverse transcriptase.

    In 1994 Ghosh began his independent academic career at the University of Illinois, Chicago, eventually becoming Professor of Chemistry in 1998. In 2005 he moved to Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, with a joint appointment in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. He became the Ian P. Rothwell Distinguished Professor in 2009.

    IUPAC was formed in 1919 by chemists from industry and academia. For more than 90 years, the Union has succeeded in fostering worldwide communications in the chemical sciences and in uniting academic, industrial and public sector chemistry in a common language. IUPAC is recognized as the world authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, standardized methods for measurement, atomic weights and many other critically evaluated data.

    Gedeon Richter plc is a major pharmaceutical company in Hungary and one of the largest in the Central-Eastern European region. Founded in 1901, the company has more than 100 years' experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing. The vertically integrated firm carries out research, development, manufacture, and marketing of human finished drugs, active substances, and intermediates. Gedeon Richter plc is a regional multinational company in Central Eastern Europe and the CIS, and has a growing presence through its commercial subsidiaries in key EU countries, the USA and Japan.

Source:
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Press Release

Related links:
Ghosh Research Group

Arun Ghosh
Purdue University
Professor Organic/Medicinal Chemistry