Guest guest Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Dear Barb, I found the article through a link at the web site you sent. I quote the article from it: http://www.epo.org/about-us/press/backgrounders/inventors2009.html Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) was long-considered one of the deadliest forms of cancer, affecting both adults and children. But now with Glivec, a cancer fighting drug, CML has become much more treatable thanks to American oncologist Druker and Swiss medicinal chemist Jürg Zimmermann. In 1960, researchers discovered that CML was caused by an abnormally short chromosome and 13 years later it emerged that this was the result of chromosome swapping: therein lay the key to a cure. In 1990, researchers began looking for inhibitors of the fusion protein " BCR-ABL " , which causes the overproduction of white blood cells in the body. Scientists working for Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Novartis developed a compound designed to reduce BCR-ABL, and Jürg Zimmermann and his team set about improving the compound. In 1994, Novartis teamed up with oncologist Druker and set about refining the inhibitor. Today, the compound now known as Glivec is hailed as a wonder drug. Follow-up data shows that Glivec therapy helps stabilise the blood count of 98% of patients. Perhaps someone would come up with a novel idea for letting him know we appreciate the giant recognition if his dedication and work. FYI, Lottie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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