From DrugPedia: A Wikipedia for Drug discovery
Dr.Surendra Nath Sehgal
Dr. Suren Sehgal is discoverer of Rapamycin. It is an immunosuppressive drug. Dr Suren Sehgal was born in very small village Khushab, India now it is in Pakistan. His father was a owner of pharmaceutical factory.
Motivated by his father field of business Suren joined in B.Pharma in Banaris Hindu University in Banaris, India where he received a B. Pharm in 1952 and his M. Pharm in 1953. Dr. Suren did his PhD studies at Bristol University in England. After completing his PhD, Suren was offered and accepted a post-doc fellowship at the National Research Council of Canada.
In 1959 suren got job in Ayerst-McKenna-Harrison in Montreal.He joined Dr. Claude Vézina's microbiology team with Dr. Harold Baker.
In 1972 suren isolated a compound from the soil sample of Easter Island (or Rapa Nui, as it is known by locals) which exhibit potent Anti fungal property. Suren and his team quickly discovered that the compound also suppressed the immune system. He sent a sample of the drug to the National Cancer Institute for testing where it was discovered that the drug had "fantastic activity" against solid tumors.
By 1998, clinical studies on Rapamune were nearing completion and the New Drug Application was filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 15 of that year. On February 1st, 1999, the FDA assigned “priority review status” to the application, and on July 27th, FDA’s Advisory Committee made a unanimous recommendation for approval of Rapamune. FDA approval was received on September 15, 1999, only 9 months after submission of the application. Approvals in Canada and around the world followed and Rapamune is now worth billions of dollars to the company. The drug is also used under license by Johnson and Johnson to coat stents used in heart patients to prevent subsequent arterial blockage due to restenosis. Rapamune is also used to prevent rejection of transplanted pancreatic islets - a possible cure for diabetes. Investigation continues into its usefulness in treating tumors.
In 1998, Suren was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer after a routine colonoscopy. He completed his work with Rapamune and retired to be close to his grand children in Seattle, Washington in 1999 after 40 years of service to Ayerst. Suren continued to work on Rapamune to the very end as a consultant to Ayerst, completing work on his last publication a few weeks before his death.
On the 21st of January, 2003, Suren left this world. But the work he done is memorable and forever in the field of transplantation research. He did revolutionary work in the field of transplantation with his wonder drug Rapamycin, that will be forever in the field of medicine.
