Philip Needleman


Philip Needleman (February 10, 1939 – March 25, 2024) was an American medical researcher,[1] pharmaceutical industry executive and leader[2][3][4] and philanthropist.[5][6]

Needleman was a professor and associate dean at the Washington University School of Medicine, and he served as an executive at Monsanto/Searle. He is credited with discovering the first thromboxane synthase inhibitor, the inflammatory substance known as COX-2 and the cardiac hormone known as atriopeptin, and for developing the anti-inflammatory drug Celebrex.[7]

Education

Needleman attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, where he earned an undergraduate degree and a master's degree, both in pharmacology. He subsequently studied at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and received a doctoral degree in pharmacology.[8]

Academic career

Needleman was a postdoctoral fellow at the Washington University School of Medicine, remaining there as a faculty member. He became a full professor and he chaired the pharmacology department from 1976 to 1989.[8]

Industry career

In 1989, Needleman left academia for industry and became Vice President and Chief Scientist of Monsanto.[7] In 1993 he became president of Searle.[7] There he oversaw research into COX-2 that led to the development of the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib (Celebrex), which was approved in 1998 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[7] He became senior executive vice president and chief scientist of Pharmacia from 2000 to 2003.[7]

Needleman returned to academia as an associate dean at the Washington University School of Medicine in 2004 and was subsequently named to the school's board of trustees.[8] He served as interim president of two institutions, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the Saint Louis Science Center.[9][10]

Awards and honors

Needleman was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1987 in the physiology and pharmacology section.[7] He received the NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science in 2005 for his work on "metabolism of arachidonic acid in physiology and pathophysiology, which generates prostacyclin and thromboxane."[11] He was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015.[12]

Needleman received numerous honors and awards,[3] including the: John Jacob Abel Award of the American Pharmacology Society (1974); Research Achievement Award from the American Heart Association (1988); NAS Institute of Medicine (1993); C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2001); and the Industrial Research Institute Medal (2001). In 2002, he was appointed Special Advisor to the ·President for Research and Development at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and had joined the University's Advisory committee for the creation of a National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev.

Death

Needleman died on March 25, 2024, at the age of 85.[3]

References
  1. "National Academy of Sciences, Member Directory, Philip Needleman". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  2. Burton, Thomas (7 September 1999). "Merck and Searle Try to put pain pills to use against cancer".
  3. Wheeler, Brittney (2 April 2024). "Obituary: Philip Needleman, emeritus trustee, longtime benefactor, 85". Washington University in St. Louis, The Record.
  4. Length, Robert (15 October 1996). "Searle's Arthritis Drug Relieves Pain, Apparently Without Causing Ulcers". The Wall Street Journal.
  5. "Washington University Receives $15 Million for Aging Research". Philanthropy News Digest. 16 February 2019.
  6. "A Better Place: The Needlemans, A Life in Science and Philanthropy".
  7. "Philip Needleman". National Academy of Sciences. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  8. Williams, Diane Duke (1 May 2015). "Needleman elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis". The Source. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  9. "Leading plant researcher to lead Danforth Center". Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. November 6, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  10. Seltzer, Jo (June 7, 2011). "Scientist thrives on challenge and change". St. Louis Beacon. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  11. NAS Award for the Industrial Application of Science Archived 2015-01-08 at the Wayback Machine National Academy of Sciences web site
  12. "Dr. Philip Needleman". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 3, 2015.


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