Merck Congratulates Awardees of 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for Discovery Leading to River Blindness Treatment
October 05 2015 - 5:15PM
Business Wire
Co-recipient Dr. William C. Campbell
Conducted his Nobel Prize-winning Work at Merck Research
Laboratories
Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and
Canada, proudly congratulates William C. Campbell, a retired
scientist from Merck Research Laboratories, who was jointly named
the 2015 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine with Satoshi
Omura for the discovery of avermectin, which led to Merck’s
development of Mectizan (ivermectin), a treatment for river
blindness (also known as onchocerciasis) in Africa, Latin America
and Yemen. They will share the prize with Youyou Tu for her
discoveries concerning a novel therapy against malaria.
River blindness is a parasitic infection that can cause intense
itching, skin discoloration, rashes, and eye disease that often
leads to permanent blindness. It is spread by the bites of infected
black flies that breed in rapidly flowing rivers in the affected
countries.
“We are particularly proud of our colleague Dr. Campbell whose
innovation, passion and dedication to fighting diseases during his
30-year career at Merck enabled the development of Mectizan,” said
Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck.
“Through our Mectizan Donation Program we have been working with
partners for nearly three decades to make this medicine available,
free of charge, to all those affected by river blindness. At Merck,
we remain committed to bringing the best that our science and
innovation have to offer to solve the world’s global health
challenges.”
Established more than 25 years ago, the Mectizan Donation
Program is the longest-running disease-specific drug donation
program and public-private partnership of its kind. In 1998, Merck
expanded the program to include the elimination of another disease,
lymphatic filariasis. The program reaches more than 250 million
people in the affected areas annually, with more than 2 billion
treatments donated since 1987.
About Merck
Today’s Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the
world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and
Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic
therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and
operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health
solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access
to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and
partnerships. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect
with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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