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For Immediate Release
Contact: Tonya Ewers, 303.724.1524, pager 303.266.0941, Tonya.Ewers@uchsc.edu
School of Medicine Professor and Researcher Honored for Work in the Development of a Lifesaving Heart Medication
Award was bestowed today in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill
AURORA, Colo. (Feb. 7, 2008) - Today, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), bestowed their version of the Nobel Prize to three biopharmaceutical company scientists, three researchers and a patient for their contributions in the development of the prescription drug Coreg - a cardiovascular medication that has reduced the mortality among patients with congestive heart failure and changed the model for treating this life-threatening and debilitative disease. Dr. Michael Bristow, MD, PhD, co-director of the University of Colorado Cardiovascular Institute and professor of Cardiology at the UC Denver School of Medicine, was among those honored.
PhRMA represents the country's leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies in effective advocacy for public policies that encourage discovery of important new medicines for patients. Today's event on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., marked the 20th anniversary of the Discoverers Award - the highest honor given by PhRMA to scientists who helped discover breakthrough medicines for patients suffering from disease.
Three biopharmaceutical scientists were given the 2008 Discoverers Award and Dr. Bristow, two other researchers, and a patient were given PhRMA's 2008 Clinical Trial Exceptional Service Award. The Clinical Trial Exceptional Service Award honors individuals who have made incredible contributions to the research and development of revolutionary medicine that has helped millions of patients worldwide live longer healthier lives.
"The School of Medicine is enormously proud of the work that Dr. Bristow and his colleagues have done at the Cardiovascular Institute that has led to this prestigious award," said Richard Krugman, MD, dean of the School of Medicine and Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs at UC Denver. "His faculty colleagues and I congratulate him and his co-recipients."
Dr. Bristow's contributions to the development of Coreg included the development of the underlying hypothesis upon which beta-blocker therapy (the drug class in which Coreg is included) is based. The hypothesis was formulated from Dr. Bristow's laboratory discovery in the early 1980s that found the failing human heart was subjected to harmful amounts of increased adrenergic activity, and the logical therapeutic response to that activity was beta-blockade.
For the development of Coreg, Dr. Bristow's work characterized the receptor and molecular profiles of the drug in the human heart. He was the primary investigator for the UC Denver School of Medicine clinical trials and conducted many of the early Phase II trials with Coreg. Bristow was also the Chairman of the largest Phase III trial ("MOCHA") of Coreg, which was the first trial with a beta-blocker that demonstrated a reduction in mortality.
"Coreg was the first beta-blocker approved for the treatment of heart failure, reversing 30 years of contraindication of the beta-blocker class in the indication of chronic heart failure," said Dr. Bristow. "Coreg has been a huge success, and has saved countless lives and substantially reduced the morbidity of heart failure. We continue to improve on the legacy of Coreg, with the next generation of drugs in this class targeting genetic variants of adrenergic receptors, the molecular targets of Coreg."
Lacey Angioletti, the patient also receiving the award, participated in the clinical trials that were critical to the development of Coreg. Angioletti is just one of the more than 5 million patients worldwide who have been helped by Coreg since its approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997. In addition to use with patients who have congestive heart failure, Coreg is also used by patients to treat high blood pressure and prevent recurrent heart attacks.
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About the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
The School of Medicine faculty work to advance science and improve care as the physicians, educators and scientists at University of Colorado Hospital, The Children's Hospital, Denver Health Medical Center, National Jewish Medical and Research Center and the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The School is part of the University of Colorado Denver, one of three universities in the University of Colorado system. For more information, visit the website or the UC Denver Newsroom.
About PhRMA
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures. PhRMA members alone invested an estimated $43 billion in 2006 in discovering and developing new medicines.