American Chemical Society’s president comments on award of 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2015 — On behalf of the American Chemical Society (ACS), President Diane Grob Schmidt congratulates today’s winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: William C. Campbell of Drew University, Satoshi Ōmura of Kitasato University (Japan) and Youyou Tu of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the prize to Campbell and Ōmura “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites,” and to Tu “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria.”

“I’d like to commend Campbell, Ōmura and Tu for their work on developing treatments and therapies for infections that plague many people. They are truly deserving of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,” says Schmidt. “Their ground-breaking research is, at its heart, chemistry. I am especially proud to note that Ōmura is a 40-year member of our Society, which further underscores the important role of chemistry in this work.”

Ōmura won ACS’ Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products, sponsored by Givaudan, in 2005. He won the Nakanishi Prize in 2000 from the Chemical Society of Japan, which alternates years with ACS in administering the prize. That award is sponsored by the Nakanishi Prize Endowment.

Both Campbell and Ōmura have published articles in some of ACS’ more than 40 peer-reviewed journals. In addition, news articles on the laureates’ work have appeared in Chemical & Engineering News, ACS’ weekly newsmagazine. The articles are available from the contacts above. These two papers authored by the researchers are available for free from ACS until November 1:

Ivermectin, a new broad-spectrum antiparasitic agent
John C. Chabala, Helmut Mrozik, Richard L. Tolman, Philip Eskola, Aino Lusi, Louis H. Peterson, Mary F. Woods, Michael H. Fisher, William C. Campbell
J. Med. Chem., 1980, 23 (10), pp 1134–1136; DOI: 10.1021/jm00184a014
Publication Date: October 1980

Avermectin Biosynthesis
Haruo Ikeda and Satoshi Ōmura
Chem. Rev., 1997, 97 (7), pp 2591–2610; DOI: 10.1021/cr960023p
Publication Date (Web): November 10, 1997

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 158,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.