Inventor of Asthma Drug to Speak May 15

Cecil Pickett, Ph.D., president of Schering-Plough Research Institute, will present “Drug Development in the 21st Century,” at Baylor College of Medicine May 15, as part of the college’s Medical Scientist Training Program’s annual Visiting Lecture Series. The lecture is open to the public, and will take place at 1:30 p.m. in Baylor’s Alkek Building, room N315. While heading research efforts at the Merck-Frosst Laboratories in Montreal, Pickett discovered the asthma drug Singulair. Subsequently, he joined Schering-Plough in 1993 as executive vice president of discovery research, where he tripled the size of the organization’s chemistry group, expanded virtually all its therapeutic areas, and built what he terms “scientific excellence” in the biology sphere. Under Pickett’s leadership, Schering-Plough became a forerunner of new technology by exploring central nervous system disorders and developing three new drugs: Zetia, for lowering plasma cholesterol (recently approved in the United States); Noxafil, a treatment for fungal infections; and Sarasar, a treatment for leukemia and solid tumors.

Researchers requesting a one-on-one meeting with Pickett the morning of the presentation should contact Adi Borovick at (713) 798-5264 or at borovick@bcm.tmc.edu.

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