Charon Robin Ganellin (born 25 January 1934) is a British medicinal chemist and emeritus Smith Kline and French Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Ganellin has contributed much to the field of drug discovery and development. He was involved in the development of cimetidine, a drug used to combat stomach ulcers, when working at Smith Kline and French which he stated was the achievement in which he takes the most pride.Ganellin, C. Robin. Drug Discovery Today, Feb 2004, Vol. 9 Issue 4, p158, 3p

Early life

Ganellin was born in East London. His father and maternal uncle were chemists which influenced his choice of profession despite a stated interest in biology and natural history. As a child, Ganellin studied at Harrow County Grammar School. He began his formal studies at Queen Mary College in London where he received his bachelor of science in chemistry. Ganellin continued studying at Queen Mary College researching tropylium chemistry with Michael J.S. Dewar where he discovered how to isolate the tropylium cation from cyclooctatetraene. Ganellin was awarded his PhD in organic chemistry in 1958 at age 24 for defending his dissertation titled "Studies in the tropylium series."

Scientific work

In 1958, shortly after his PhD studies at Queen Mary College, Ganellin joined Smith Kline and French Laboratories in the UK where he began research in medicinal chemistry. Two years after starting at SK&F, he went to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

where he performed his postdoctoral work with Arthur C. Cope. At MIT, he devised the first direct optical resolution of a chiral olefin using platinum complex chemistry. After a year at MIT, he returned to the UK to resume his work at SK&F. In 1966, he headed a landmark research team at SK&F, collaborating with Sir James Black researching histamine H2-receptor antagonists. This research eventually led to the discovery of Cimetidine, also known by its trademark name Tagamet which is currently produced by GlaxoSmith Kline. Cimetidine quickly garnered over one billion dollars in annual sales.

Awards and achievements

Ganellin has authored or co-authored over 260 scientific papers and is listed as inventor or co-inventor on over 160 US patents. He has served as the president of the

IUPAC The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...

medicinal chemistry section, and for 10 years (until 2012) he was the chair of the subcommittee on medicinal chemistry and drug development. He has won many awards and commendations over the years, both for his work on cimetidine and his research in other areas of medicinal chemistry. He has received awards in medicinal chemistry from many organisations, such as the

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 ...

, the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

, the Society of Chemical Industry, the Society for Drug Research, the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry, the Société Chimie Thérapeutique of France, and the Medicinal Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society. He was also inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1990 for his work on cimetidine. Ganellin currently serves as an emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry.

Drugs List

# Icotidine # Impromidine # Cetiedil (enantiomers): # UCL 1608 # Oxmetidine # Cimetidine
UCL-1439
# Ciproxifan # UCL-1390 # UCL 1684 (pharmacology) # Donetidine # Metiamide # Burimamide
6-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2,2-dimethylpiperidin-4-one
104-81-6(stimulant & depressant properties): # 1-(2-diethylaminoethyl-2-(p-ethoxybenzyl)-2-indene (Ex 9, Nitazene type mimic): Patent:Jack David, Spickett Robert Geoffr William & Ganellin Charon Robin, US3159634 (1964 to Smith Kline and French Laboratories Ltd).

References

External links

"Charon Robin Ganellin"
EHRS
Tagamet: Discovery of Histamine H₂-receptor Antagonists
from

National Inventors Hall of Fame

Italian and Spanish honours for Robin Ganellin - SCI member wins plaudits
soci.org via archive.org. Accessed 20 April 2024.

pharm.wayne.edu via archive.org. Accessed 20 April 2024. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganellin, C. Robin 1934 births Living people Alumni of Queen Mary University of London English chemists Academics of University College London Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Harrow High School