Erik De Clercq M.D. Ph.D., (1941) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

. He studied medicine at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (; ) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) * Katholieke Universiteit Leuven or KU Leuven (1968 ...

(

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

). He did research and later became a professor at the Department of Medicine, where he specialised in

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

and

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

. He worked at the

Rega Institute for Medical Research The Rega Institute for Medical Research is a Belgian scientific establishment that is part of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Catholic University of Leuven (Leuven) in central Belgium. The Rega Institute is an interfacultary biomedical resear ...

. He is one of the founders and the second president of the

International Society for Antiviral Research The International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR) is a scientific society that focuses on the discovery and clinical application of antiviral agents. It was founded in 1987 to encourage the exchange of information and collaborative resear ...

. Since 1976 Erik De Clercq has collaborated on the development of new antiretroviral drugs with

Antonín Holý Antonín Holý (1 September 1936 – 16 July 2012) was a pioneering Czech scientist. He specialised in the field of chemistry and cooperated on the development of important antiretroviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV and hepatitis B. He ...

, of the

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (shortened as IOCB Prague) () is a research institute under the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS). The institute centers around research in the fields of organic chemi ...

(IOCB Prague) of the

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Together they discovered amongst others

Tenofovir Tenofovir disoproxil, sold under the brand name Viread among others, is a medication used to treat chronic hepatitis B and to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use with other antiretrovirals. It may be used for pr ...

. In 2008 he received the

European Inventor Award The European Inventor Award (formerly European Inventor of the Year Award, renamed in 2010), are presented annually by the European Patent Office, sometimes supported by the respective Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the Eur ...

Lifetime Achievement for landmark contributions to antiviral treatment, including the development of the drug cocktail for AIDS.European Inventor of the Year 2008 in the category "lifetime achievement"
/ref> In 2010 De Clercq was awarded the 2010 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. He was recognized for his landmark discoveries in anti-HIV medications, including

nucleotide analogues Reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) are a class of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection or AIDS, and in some cases hepatitis B. RTIs inhibit activity of reverse transcriptase, a viral DNA polymerase that is required for replication ...

, and inventions or co-inventions of several approved drugs for anti-viral therapy.

References

1941 births Flemish scientists Belgian immunologists Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Living people Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS {{Belgium-scientist-stub