Speaker
Nicholas Meanwell
PhD, CSci, CChem, FRSC
Executive Director, Department of Discovery Chemistry: Virology
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Wallingford, Connecticut, USA
Education
BSc Special Honours Chemistry, 1976
The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England
PhD Degree, Organic Chemistry, 1979
The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England
Under the supervision of Dr D. Neville Jones.
Post Doctoral Studies, 1979-1982
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
In collaboration with Professor Carl R. Johnson
Industrial Experience
Bristol-Myers Squibb Research and Development, 1982 to present
Have led drug discovery programs in the cardiovascular, neurosciences and virology therapeutic areas, work that has resulted in the advancement of over 25 clinical candidates for the prevention of thrombosis, the treatment of stroke and therapy for viral infections, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Recent significant discoveries to emerge from this group include RSV fusion inhibitors, characterized as the first small molecules to interfere with the association of the 6 helical peptide bundle that is a critical step in the virus entry process, and a series of HIV attachment inhibitors that are the first small molecules described to function by interfering with the interaction between virus gp120 and the host cell CD4 receptor. BMS-663068, a phosphonooxymethyl prodrug of BMS-626529, that has just successfully completed Phase 2 clinical trials.
Significant compounds in the HCV arena include daclatasvir, a pioneering molecule that established NS5A inhibition as a clinically-relevant target and, the HCV NS3 protease inhibitor asunaprevir, which incorporates the cyclopropyl acylsulfonamide moiety that has been widely adopted, both of which have completed Phase 3 clinical trials. The combination of daclatasvir and asunaprevir in a clinical trial conducted in HCV-infected subjects established for the first time that an HCV infection could be cured by direct acting antiviral agents in the absence of immune stimulation. NDAs seeking marketing approval for the combination of daclatasvir and asunaprevir were approved in Japan on July 4th, 2014 and a decision in the United States is pending. In addition, BMS-791325, a thumb site inhibitor of HCV NS5B polymerase, is currently in Phase 3 trials in combination with daclatasvir and asunaprevir.
Publications and patents
Author/co-author of over 140 peer-reviewed publications, 47 review articles and book chapters and more than 150 meeting abstracts. Named as inventor/co-inventor of over 100 issued U.S. Patents and have presented over 70 invited lectures at National and International meetings, Universities and Schools on Medicinal Chemistry.