‘Heroes of Chemistry’ recognized for contributions to health, medicine and more

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2022 — The American Chemical Society (ACS) is honoring researchers and companies for developing products that have led to significant advancements in health and medicine and other consumer applications. The 2022 winners will be inducted into the Heroes of Chemistry scientific hall of fame, which ACS has sponsored annually since 1996.

“These companies are truly heroic, creating formulations to help protect against and treat COVID-19,” says ACS President Angela K. Wilson, Ph.D. “It’s also important to recognize the creative work for solutions to non-COVID-19-related problems. I’m honored to recognize 3M, Dow, Lilly, Merck, Moderna and Pfizer for making the world a better place in a variety of capacities through innovative chemistry.”

Scientific teams in industry are being honored for the following achievements:

3M: RelyX™ Unicem and Universal Dental Cements provide outstanding high performance in oral environments, significant handling advantages, simpler dental workflows and virtually no post-operative sensitivities.

Dow: Elite™ and Innate™ are precise, on-demand, molecularly tailored, enhanced polyethylenes to meet a range of packaging requirements.

Eli Lilly and Company: Verzenio^® (abemaciclib) is a selective CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitor for the treatment of both advanced and metastatic, as well as high-risk early breast cancers.

Merck and Co. Inc., Ridgeback Therapeutics and Emory University: Lagevrio™ (molnupiravir) is a novel antiviral for the treatment of COVID-19. It was granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Moderna: mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Spikevax™) is an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for individuals 18 years of age and older.

Pfizer: Paxlovid™ is a medicine granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19.

The Heroes of Chemistry ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 29, in Washington, D.C.

Special thanks to the ACS Board Committee on Corporation Associates, which evaluated the applications and selected the winners.