Pierre Deniker (16 February 1917, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 17 August 1998) was involved, jointly with

Jean Delay Jean Delay (14 November 1907, Bayonne – 29 May 1987, Paris) was a French psychiatrist, neurologist, writer, and a member of the Académie française (Chair 17). His assistant Pierre Deniker conducted a test of chlorpromazine on the male me ...

and J. M. Harl, in the introduction of

chlorpromazine Chlorpromazine (CPZ), marketed under the brand names Thorazine and Largactil among others, is an antipsychotic medication. It is primarily used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Other uses include the treatment of bipolar d ...

(Thorazine), the first

antipsychotic Antipsychotics, previously known as neuroleptics and major tranquilizers, are a class of Psychiatric medication, psychotropic medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), p ...

used in the treatment of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

, in the 1950s.Kandel, E. R. (2007). ''In Search of Memory. The Emergence of a New Science of Mind.'' W. W. Norton & Co. See als
A review in Spanish about Kandel's book
/ref> Thorazine had been used in

surgical Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery ...

procedures peri-operatively as an anti-nausea medication in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Patients were noted to be less anxious and calmer. This observation eventually led Deniker to try chlorpromazine with patients who had schizophrenia, where he observed notable improvement in symptoms. The pharmaceutical company Smith-Kline had purchased the chlorpromazine rights from Rhone-Poulenc in France and had been marketing it as an anti-nausea medication. After Deniker's observations, they sought and received

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

approval in 1954 to market Thorazine for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Role in French resistance

During the second world war, Deniker and Professor Pasteur Vallery-Radot took active part in

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. In 1943, they enrolled one hundred young medical students of Paris to make ''center of First Aid Workers''. They wore military uniforms, and took care of the civilian population after bombing of towns by Germans. They also treated people returning from Germany especially the deportees and the prisoners of war.

References

1917 births 1998 deaths Physicians from Paris French psychiatrists 20th-century French physicians Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award {{France-psychiatrist-stub