Cancer Research Pioneer Receives Prestigious Award in Medicinal Chemistry
Monroe Wall discovered both Taxol and Camptothecin
Contact: Reid Maness, 919-541-7044, [email protected] Reference: http://www.rti.org/patents/cancer.html
Research Triangle Park, NC, October 23, 1997. Of the many awards stemming from the discoveries of Taxol and Camptothecin, none is more significant than the Alfred Burger Award, announced at the 214th American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in September 1997.
Monroe E. Wall, PhD, will receive the Burger award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to medicinal chemistry, largely for his leadership in discovering two new classes of pharmaceuticals for cancer treatment.
When Wall and his colleagues discovered Taxol and Camptothecin from tree bark in the 1960s, specific determination of how the chemicals kill cancer cells was not possible. Even so, Wall dedicated his professional life to seeing that these compoundsà potential was fully developed.
"Dr. WallÃs persistence, perseverance, and intuition that these compounds possessed unique properties and thus had potential as drug candidates led him to continue his studies," said RTI Vice President for Chemistry and Life Sciences F. Ivy Carroll, PhD, in nominating Wall for the Burger Award.
In the 1980s, researchers at several laboratories determined how the two compounds kill cancer cells. Taxol inhibits cell growth by binding tubulin, a compound that is important in cell division. Camptothecin inhibits topoisomerase I, an enzyme closely linked with cell division.
Each of these is an unprecedented mechanism of action against cancer, making them the prototypes of two new classes of chemotherapy agents. Small wonder that in 1991 Dr. Samuel Broder, then director of the National Cancer Institute, hailed Taxol as the most important new cancer drug in the past 15 years.
Taxol, discovered in the bark of the Taxus brevifolia (Pacific Yew), is now available for the benefit of cancer patients worldwide. It first reached the U.S. market in 1994 for treatment of refractory breast cancer. As of August 1997, it had been approved in the U.S. for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and KaposiÃs Sarcoma.
Camptothecin has spawned a series of ever-more-powerful generations of anti-cancer compounds. Several from the second generation are on the market. In May 1997 RTI licensed third-generation compounds to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and RTI and the company are collaborating to develop additional compounds.
In the 1970s, Dr. Wall suggested modifications of the original Camptothecin molecule that was isolated from the Camptotheca acuminata treeÃs bark. He proposed that these modifications would lead to highly active anti-cancer compounds. By 1980, Wall and his colleagues developed a versatile synthesis process that could prepare quantities of modified compounds to be screened for anti-tumor activity. In 1986-89, they reported modified Camptothecin compounds with high activity to inhibit topoisomerase I.
Dr. WallÃs contributions to medicinal chemistry extend beyond these two great discoveries. Examples are: discoveries from his laboratory are being investigated for other medical and even agricultural uses; his basic research on steroids led to a process to prepare cortisone; a method he used to analyze metabolites of marihuana led to the method now used to detect drug use.
Of particular importance to RTI, Dr. Wall established within the InstituteÃs chemistry programs the same standards of research accomplishment, scientific integrity, and contribution to the human condition that today are expressed in RTIÃs vision, mission, and values.
About Research Triangle Institute:
Research Triangle Institute is an independent research institute that serves government and industry clients in the U.S. and abroad. With a staff of 1,450, RTI conducts research in public health and medicine, environmental protection, advanced technologies, and public policy. RTI was established in 1958 as the initial R&D center in the Research Triangle Park.
About the Burger Award:
The Burger Award comes from ACSÃ Division of Medicinal Chemistry and is named for University of Virginia Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Alfred Burger, founder of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. SmithKline Corporation established the biennial award in 1978 and SmithKline Beecham sponsors it today.
Formal presentation of the Burger Award will be at the Spring 1998 ACS meeting, at which Dr. Wall will present an award address.
Photos available: ∑ Color and B&W mug shots of Wall. View sample at http://www.rti.org/research/pharm_pioneers.html
∑ Color photo of Wall and his colleague Mamsukh C. Wani, PhD, in lab. Caption information: The 1998 Alfred Burger Award to Monroe E. Wall, PhD, from the American Chemical Society was announced at the ACS meeting September 7-11, 1997, in Las Vegas. Formal presentation will be at the Spring 1998 meeting of the Society. Wall and Wani, have received many honors for their work on Taxol and Camptothecin. Among his many prestigious honors, Wall received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University, Sweden, in 1987. In 1996 Wall and Wani jointly received the National Cancer Institute Award of Recognition. In 1994 they shared the Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research, as well as the Durham, NC, City of Medicine Award.
Taxol, a word coined by Monroe E. Wall of Research Triangle Institute, is a trademark of Bristol- Myers Squibb Co.
References: ∑ M.E. Wall and M.C. Wani, Paper M-006, 153rd National Meeting, American Chemical Society (1967). ∑ M.C. Wani, H.L. Taylor, M.E. Wall, P. Coggin, and A.T. McPhail, J. of the American Chemical Society, 93, 2325 (1971). ∑ Wall, Wani, Cook, Palmer, McPhail and Sim, J. of the American Chemical Society, 88:16, p. 3888 (1966). ∑ Wani and Wall, J. of Organic Chemistry, Col 34 #5, p. 1364 (1969). ∑ Wani, Nicholas and Wall, J. of Medicinal Chemistry, Vol 29 #11, p. 2358 (1986).
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