Barry Victor Lloyd Potter (born 1953) MAE FMedSci is a British chemist, who is Professor of Medicinal & Biological Chemistry in the Department of Pharmacology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

Senior Investigator and a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

Early life and education

Potter was born in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and attended Hove County Grammar School. He won an Open Exhibition scholarship to

Worcester College Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

to study Chemistry and obtained a first class

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree (with a subsequent MA), also winning the Part II Thesis Prize in

Organic Chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...

. He earned a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree from

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Wolfson is an all-graduate college, it prides itself on being one of the most international colleges at Oxford, with part ...

, where he also won a Graduate Scholarship and was later

Junior Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

, for work carried out in the

Dyson Perrins Laboratory The Dyson Perrins Laboratory is in the science area of the University of Oxford and was the main centre for research into organic chemistry of the University from its foundation in 1916 until its closure as a research laboratory in 2003. Until ...

on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed phosphoryl transfer reactions under the supervision of Gordon Lowe FRS. He was subsequently awarded a

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

degree from the University of Oxford for his published work up to 1992 in ''Studies in

Biological Chemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

''.

Career and research

Potter was a postdoctoral research associate first at Oxford and subsequently was funded by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

to work at the

Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine The Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine () was a research institute of the Max Planck Society, located in Göttingen, Germany. On January 1, 2022, the institute merged with the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttinge ...

(now Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences) in

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, Federal Republic of Germany with Professor Fritz Eckstein in the

nucleic acid Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that are crucial in all cells and viruses. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomer components: a pentose, 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main classes of nuclei ...

and

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

fields and he later became a Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter. He was lecturer in

biological chemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

in the Department of Chemistry at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

, a Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine Research Fellow and held the established chair of

Medicinal Chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with drug design, designing and developing pharmaceutical medication, drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, ...

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

for over 20 years, initially as Lister Institute Research Professor, and is currently a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

. He was visiting professor of medicinal and biological chemistry at the University of Oxford until 2015. His research, primarily employing

synthetic organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J ...

, is highly

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

at the interfaces of Chemistry with Biology and with Medicine and encompasses

medicinal Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

chemical biology Chemical biology is a scientific discipline between the fields of chemistry and biology. The discipline involves the application of chemical techniques, analysis, and often small molecules produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and m ...

and

drug design Drug design, often referred to as rational drug design or simply rational design, is the invention, inventive process of finding new medications based on the knowledge of a biological target. The drug is most commonly an organic compound, organi ...

, discovery and development, especially for

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

and

women's health Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Often treated ...

. He is particularly known for his enzyme mechanistic work on the

stereochemistry Stereochemistry, a subdiscipline of chemistry, studies the spatial arrangement of atoms that form the structure of molecules and their manipulation. The study of stereochemistry focuses on the relationships between stereoisomers, which are defined ...

of enzyme reactions that transfer

phosphate group Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosp ...

s eg

kinase In biochemistry, a kinase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of phosphate groups from high-energy, phosphate-donating molecules to specific substrates. This process is known as phosphorylation, where the high-energy ATP molecule don ...

phosphatase In biochemistry, a phosphatase is an enzyme that uses water to cleave a phosphoric acid Ester, monoester into a phosphate ion and an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol. Because a phosphatase enzyme catalysis, catalyzes the hydrolysis of its Substrate ...

polymerase In biochemistry, a polymerase is an enzyme (Enzyme Commission number, EC 2.7.7.6/7/19/48/49) that synthesizes long chains of polymers or nucleic acids. DNA polymerase and RNA polymerase are used to assemble DNA and RNA molecules, respectively, by ...

nuclease In biochemistry, a nuclease (also archaically known as nucleodepolymerase or polynucleotidase) is an enzyme capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds that link nucleotides together to form nucleic acids. Nucleases variously affect single and ...

s etc, pioneering application of synthetic

chiral Chirality () is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word ''chirality'' is derived from the Greek language, Greek (''kheir''), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is ''chiral'' if it is dist ...

isotopomeric phosphates using both stable

isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

s of ¹⁶O-oxygen in the sup>16O,¹⁷O,¹⁸O- approach, also using the ¹⁸O-isotope in combination with sulphur in the sup>16O,¹⁸O, S- approach and the sup>16O,¹⁸O- approach for internucleotidic linkages; and the application of synthetic and biological chemistry techniques to

cellular signalling In biology, cell signaling (cell signalling in British English) is the Biological process, process by which a Cell (biology), cell interacts with itself, other cells, and the environment. Cell signaling is a fundamental property of all Cell (biol ...

through the study of the calcium-releasing

second messengers Second messengers are intracellular signaling molecules released by the cell in response to exposure to extracellular signaling molecules—the first messengers. (Intercellular signals, a non-local form of cell signaling, encompassing both first m ...

inositol trisphosphate Inositol trisphosphate or inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate abbreviated InsP3 or Ins3P or IP3 is an inositol phosphate signaling molecule. It is made by hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), a phospholipid that is located in the ...

(IP₃), cyclic adenosine 5'-diphosphate ribose ( cADPR), nicotinic acid adenine diphosphate ribose 2'-phosphate (

NAADP Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) is a Ca2+-mobilizing second messenger synthesised in response to extracellular stimuli. Like its mechanistic cousins, Inositol triphosphate, IP3 and cyclic adenosine diphosphoribose (Cyclic ADP ...

) and adenosine 5'-diphosphate ribose (ADPR) and also more widely in

nucleotide Nucleotides are Organic compound, organic molecules composed of a nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both o ...

and

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

chemistry. In his

and discovery work one of the academically discovered "first-in-class" clinical drug targets identified was steroid sulfatase (STS) and the first potent inhibitor was designed and synthesized by the Potter research group as the steroidal sulfamate EMATE. Such synthetic active-site-directed, irreversible, time-dependent steroidal and non-steroidal inactivators of the enzyme progressed to clinical trials and were translated to the pharmaceutical industry. This work in collaboration with Michael J Reed lead to sulfamate-based drugs such as

Irosustat Irosustat (, ; developmental code names STX-64, 667-coumate, BN-83495; also known as oristusane) is an orally active, irreversible, nonsteroidal inhibitor of steroid sulfatase (STS) and member of the aryl sulfamate ester class of drugs that wa ...

( BN83495, STX64) and E2MATE ( PGL2001) that have completed many

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia in women's health, including for

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

and

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease in which Tissue (biology), tissue similar to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, grows in other places in the body, outside the uterus. It occurs in women and a limited number of other female mammals. Endomet ...

, post-menopausal ER+ hormone dependent

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

, advanced/metastatic or recurrent estrogen receptor-positive

endometrial cancer Endometrial cancer is a cancer that arises from the endometrium (the epithelium, lining of the uterus or womb). It is the result of the abnormal growth of cells (biology), cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. The first s ...

and

castration-resistant prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through screening tests, typically blood tests that che ...

and Irosustat was also evaluated as a combination therapy with an oral

epidermal growth factor receptor The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR; ErbB-1; HER1 in humans) is a transmembrane protein that is a receptor (biochemistry), receptor for members of the epidermal growth factor family (EGF family) of extracellular protein ligand (biochemistry ...

tyrosine kinase inhibitor A tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is a pharmaceutical drug that inhibits tyrosine kinases. Tyrosine kinases are enzymes responsible for the activation of many proteins by signal transduction cascades. The proteins are activated by adding a phosph ...

for the Treatment of

Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or non-small-cell lung carcinoma, is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitiv ...

Patients. Irosustat is still progressing clinically. E2MATE/PGL2001 was well tolerated and for

first clinical trials showed that local endometrial STS could be reduced by 91% by a single dose of only 4 mg/per week of the drug alone and 96% in combination with a progestin. A Phase II, multicentre, randomised, two-arm, parallel group, double-blind, placebo controlled, clinical study was initiated. Results are awaited. In randomised phase II trials using Irosustat ''vs'' the current standard of care (megestrol acetate) in recurrent/metastatic post-menopausal endometrial cancer patients results showed clinical activity and a good safety profile. Pharmacodynamic proof of concept for Irosustat was demonstrated in prostate cancer patients with suppression of the non-sulfated androgens

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

androstenediol Androstenediol, or 5-androstenediol (abbreviated as A5 or Δ5-diol), also known as androst-5-ene-3β,17β-diol, is an endogenous weak androgen and estrogen steroid hormone and intermediate in the biosynthesis of testosterone from dehydroepiand ...

and

DHEA Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), also known as androstenolone, is an endogenous steroid hormone precursor. It is one of the most abundant circulating steroids in humans. DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands, the gonads, and the brain. It functio ...

. The most recent IRIS and IPET breast cancer clinical trials met their clinical endpoints; results were discussed and clinical benefit demonstrated for Irosustat both as a monotherapy in early breast cancer and in combination with an

aromatase inhibitor Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are a class of drugs used in the treatment of breast cancer in postmenopausal women and in men, and gynecomastia in men. They may also be used off-label to reduce estrogen conversion when supplementing testosterone exo ...

. Further trials are necessary. Potter co-founded in 1997 the university spin-out company Sterix Limited jointly between the

and

Imperial College, London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

and was Director of Medicinal Chemistry and Chief Scientific Officer. Sterix Ltd pioneered ''inter alia'' the first human clinical trials of a steroid sulfatase inhibitor in breast cancer patients and was acquired by the French Ipsen Group in 2004. It has been demonstrated that oral treatment with the STS inhibitor

alleviates the symptoms of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in a murine model, indicating that the drug passes the

blood–brain barrier The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective semipermeable membrane, semipermeable border of endothelium, endothelial cells that regulates the transfer of solutes and chemicals between the circulatory system and the central nervous system ...

. STS inhibitors could therefore potentially be employed to treat such ageing and ageing-associated diseases, including Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The Spanish spin-out company ONESTX will pursue clinical application to such pathologies with STX64/Irosustat, both alone and in combination with neurosteroids. Because of dual effects on stimulation of bone formation and inhibition of bone resorption Nexyon Biotech (Korea) is taking sulfatase inhibition into phase 2 clinical trials for ''osteogenesis imperfecta'' In 2020-2021 a themed journal issue was dedicated to Professor Potter entitled: "From Cell Signalling to Anticancer Drug Discovery". As of January 2023, Potter has published more than 550 articles in peer-reviewed journals, with many of his papers appearing in highly selective journals and is inventor of 45 granted US patents. His work has been cited ca. 24,000 times and he has an h-index of 75 and an i10 index of 425.

Awards and honours

Potter is a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is one of the most prestigious awards conferred by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom. Existing Fellows include award winning scientists and Nobel prize winners. FRSC awa ...

(FRSC) and

Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology Fellowship of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), previously Fellowship of the Society of Biology (FSB), is an award and fellowship granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Biology has adjudged to have made a "prominent contribution to t ...

(FRSB). He was elected a Fellow of the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

( FMedSci) in 2008. The citation reads: He was elected a Member ( MAE) of the pan-European Academy of Science, Humanities & Letters the ''

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

'' in 2009. He has also won a number of academic and industrial awards and medals e.g.:

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...

, 2007 UCB-Celltech Industrially Sponsored Award & Medal for Chemical Biology;

, 2007/8 George and Christine Sosnovsky Award & Medal in Cancer Therapy; 2009

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

International Achievement Award;

, Biological & Medicinal Chemistry Section, 2009 Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize & Medal (jointly);

2010 Interdisciplinary Prize & Medal; 2012 European Life Science Award, Investigator of the Year;

, Biological & Medicinal Chemistry Section, 2015/16 2nd RSC-BMCS Lectureship; 2018 Tu Youyou Award for Natural Product and Medicinal Chemistry. In 2022 Potter was awarded the degree of

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' by the

and was also elected to an Honorary Fellowship of the

British Pharmacological Society The British Pharmacological Society is the primary UK learned society for Pharmacology, pharmacologists, concerned with research into drugs and the ways in which they work. Members work in academia, industry, regulatory agencies, and the health se ...

(HonFBPhS).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Barry V. L. 1953 births Living people British biochemists Academics of the University of Bath Academics of the University of Oxford Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Alumni of Wolfson College, Oxford Academics of the University of Leicester Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) 20th-century British biologists 21st-century British biologists 20th-century British chemists 21st-century British chemists Fellows of University College, Oxford Scientists from Brighton