Paul Janssen
Encyclopedia
Janssen Pharmaceutica
Janssen Pharmaceutica is pharmaceutical company, established in Belgium in 1953 by Paul Janssen. Its headquarters are located in Beerse, in the Campine region of the province of Antwerp, Belgium. It was created not as a subsidiary of a chemical factory but solely with the aim of conducting...
, a pharmaceutical company with over 20,000 employees. In 2005 he finished as runner up, after Father Damien
Father Damien
Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. , born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order...
, in the poll for The Greatest Belgian
De Grootste Belg
De Grootste Belg was a 2005 vote conducted by Belgian public TV broadcaster Canvas, public radio broadcaster Radio 1, and newspaper De Standaard, to determine who is the Greatest Belgian of all time...
organized by the regional Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
television. He also came third in an equivalent contest amongst Germanophone Belgians, Belg der Belgen
Belg der Belgen
In 2005, the Belgian newspaper, Het Nieuwsblad conducted a vote to discover the greatest Belgian of all time . The series is based on BBC's 100 Greatest Britons...
. On Wednesday 22 October 2008 Dr. Paul Janssen was awarded the title of Most Important Belgian Scientist, an initiative of the Eos magazine.
Birth and education
Paul Janssen was the son of Constant JanssenConstant Janssen
Dr. Jan Constant Janssen , was a Belgian physician and businessman. He was the third child of Adriaan Victor Janssen and Anna Catharina Eelen . He went to highschool in Hoogstraten and studied medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven and the University of Ghent...
and Margriet Fleerackers. On 16 April 1957, he married Dora Arts. Paul Janssen died in Rome, Italy in 2003, while attending the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Pontifical Academy of Sciences
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is a scientific academy of the Vatican, founded in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. It is placed under the protection of the reigning Supreme Pontiff. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of related...
, of which he had been a member since 1990. He was survived by his widow, Dora Arts Janssen, two sons, three daughters and 13 grandchildren.
He attended secondary school at the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
St-Jozefcollege in Turnhout, after which he decided to follow in his father's footsteps and become a physician. During World War II, Janssen studied physics, biology, and chemistry at the Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix
Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix
The University of Namur or Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix , in Namur , is a Jesuit, Catholic private university in the French Community of Belgium...
(FUNDP) in Namur
Namur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
. He then studied medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
and the University of Ghent. In 1951 Janssen graduated "magna cum laude" in medicine from the University of Ghent.
Career
During his military service, he worked at the University of CologneUniversity of Cologne
The University of Cologne is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44,000 students, one of the largest universities in Germany. The university is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, an association of Germany's leading research universities...
in Germany at the Institute of Pharmacology of J. Schuller, where he worked until 1952. After he returned to Belgium he worked part-time at the Institute of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (University of Ghent) of Professor Corneille Heymans
Corneille Heymans
Corneille Jean François Heymans was a Flemish physiologist. He studied at the prestigious Jesuit College of Sainte Barbe after which he proceeded to Ghent University, where he obtained a doctor's degree in 1920.After graduation Heymans worked at the Collège de France Corneille Jean François...
, who had won the Nobel prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
for medicine in 1938. Janssen founded his own research laboratory in 1953, with a loan of 50,000 Belgian francs from his father. In 1953 he also discovered his first drug ambucetamide
Ambucetamide
Ambucetamide is an antispasmodic found to be particularly effective for the relief of menstrual pain. It was discovered in 1953 by Paul Janssen.-References:...
, an antispasmodic
Antispasmodic
An antispasmodic is a drug or a herb that suppresses muscle spasms.-Smooth muscle spasm:One type of antispasmodics is used for smooth muscle contraction, especially in tubular organs of the gastrointestinal tract...
found to be particularly effective for the relief of menstrual pain.
In 1956, Janssen received his teaching certificate for higher education in pharmacology (Venia legendi) with a thesis on Compounds of the R 79 type. He then left the university and in 1956 established the company which would become Janssen Pharmaceutica. On 11 February 1958 he made haloperidol
Haloperidol
Haloperidol is a typical antipsychotic. It is in the butyrophenone class of antipsychotic medications and has pharmacological effects similar to the phenothiazines....
a major breakthrough in the treatment of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. Paul Janssen and his team developed the fentanyl family of drugs, and many other potent analgesic
Analgesic
An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....
s, such as droperidol
Droperidol
Droperidol is an antidopaminergic drug used as an antiemetic and antipsychotic...
and etomidate
Etomidate
Etomidate is a short acting intravenous anaesthetic agent used for the induction of general anaesthesia and for sedation for short procedures such as reduction of dislocated joints, tracheal intubation and cardioversion...
which made a significant contribution to anesthesiology. One of the drugs he developed for the treatment of diarrhea
Diarrhea
Diarrhea , also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having three or more loose or liquid bowel movements per day. It is a common cause of death in developing countries and the second most common cause of infant deaths worldwide. The loss of fluids through diarrhea can cause dehydration and...
, Diphenoxylate
Diphenoxylate
Diphenoxylate is an opioid agonist used for the treatment of diarrhea that acts by slowing intestinal contractions and peristalsis allowing the body to consolidate intestinal contents and prolong transit time, thus allowing the intestines to draw moisture out of them at a normal or higher rate and...
(Lomotil
Lomotil
The drug combination diphenoxylate/atropine is a popular oral anti-diarrheal in the United States, manufactured by Pfizer. Its UK BAN generic name is co-phenotrope....
), even made it into space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
and was used during the Apollo program. In 1985, his company was the first Western pharmaceutical company to set up a pharmaceutical factory in the People's Republic of China (Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
). In 1995 he founded the Center for Molecular Design, together with Paul Lewi
Paul Lewi
Paul J. Lewi is a Belgian scientist, who elaborated Spectral Map Analysis in 1975 and was one of the cofounders of chemometrics in 1983. Paul Lewi is married with Philomena Van Bylen, and together they have 5 children.- Biography :...
, where he and his team used a supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
to search for candidate molecules to find a treatment for AIDS.
Janssen and the scientists at Janssen Pharmaceutica
Janssen Pharmaceutica
Janssen Pharmaceutica is pharmaceutical company, established in Belgium in 1953 by Paul Janssen. Its headquarters are located in Beerse, in the Campine region of the province of Antwerp, Belgium. It was created not as a subsidiary of a chemical factory but solely with the aim of conducting...
discovered more than 80 new medicines. Four of his medicines are on the WHO list of essential medicines; this is an absolute world record. The majority of the drugs he and his teams developed were for human medicine and are being used to treat infestations by fungi and worms, mental illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, allergies
Allergy
An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
, and gastrointestinal disorders. For his contributions to medicine Janssen was honored on several occasions and he received more than 80 medical prizes and 22 honorary doctorates. In 1990 Janssen was knighted by Baudouin I of Belgium and became a Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
.
Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research
The "Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical ResearchDr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research
The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research is given to honor the work of an active scientist in academia, industry or a scientific institute.- The Award :...
" was founded by Johnson & Johnson in 2005 to honor the memory of Dr. Paul Janssen. The Dr. Paul Janssen Award serves to promote, recognize and reward passion and creativity in biomedical research and to underscore Johnson & Johnson's commitment to scientific excellence in the advance of healthcare knowledge while fulfilling its responsibility in the community.
- 2006: In September 2006, Craig C. MelloCraig MelloCraig Cameron Mello is a Portuguese-American biologist and Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, along with Andrew Z. Fire, for the discovery of RNA interference...
, a professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolUniversity of Massachusetts Medical SchoolThe University of Massachusetts Medical School is one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system and is home to three schools: the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Graduate School of Nursing; a biomedical research enterprise; and a range of...
, WorcesterWorcester, MassachusettsWorcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, Massachusetts, and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical InstituteHoward Hughes Medical InstituteHoward Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
, was named the inaugural recipient of The Dr. Paul Janssen Award. Mello was selected for his role in the discovery of RNA interferenceRNA interferenceRNA interference is a process within living cells that moderates the activity of their genes. Historically, it was known by other names, including co-suppression, post transcriptional gene silencing , and quelling. Only after these apparently unrelated processes were fully understood did it become...
(RNAi) and the elucidation of its biological functions.
- 2008: Professor Marc FeldmannMarc FeldmannSir Marc Feldmann is an Australian immunologist, and a professor at the Imperial College School of Medicine where he is a head of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology.-Biography:...
, FMedSci, FAA, FRS and Emeritus Professor Sir Ravinder Maini, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS of The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, [Imperial College London], received the 2008 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for their role in the discovery of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or TNF-alpha, as an effective therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
- 2009: Axel UllrichAxel UllrichAxel Ullrich in is a German cancer researcher and has been the Director of the Molecular biology dept. at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany since 1988. This deptartment's research has primarily focused on signal transduction...
, PhD, director of the Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, received the 2009 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical ResearchDr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical ResearchThe Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research is given to honor the work of an active scientist in academia, industry or a scientific institute.- The Award :...
for his pioneering work in applying molecular biology and molecular cloningMolecular cloningMolecular cloning refers to a set of experimental methods in molecular biology that are used to assemble recombinant DNA molecules and to direct their replication within host organisms...
to the discovery of protein therapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of diseases, including diabetes and cancer. Basic research in Ullrich’s laboratory led to the characterization of several medically relevant receptors of the tyrosine kinaseKinaseIn chemistry and biochemistry, a kinase is a type of enzyme that transfers phosphate groups from high-energy donor molecules, such as ATP, to specific substrates, a process referred to as phosphorylation. Kinases are part of the larger family of phosphotransferases...
family, including receptors for epidermal growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor. He demonstrated that these receptors are critically involved in human cancer and developed therapeutics based on these discoveries.
See also
- Gedeon Richter Ltd.Gedeon Richter Ltd.Gedeon Richter Plc. , the largest pharmaceutical factory in Hungary, was established by Mr. Gedeon Richter, a pharmacist in 1901. Mr. Richter is not only the founder of the company, but the establishment of his firm also marked the beginning of the development of the Hungarian pharmaceutical industry...
- Gairdner Foundation International AwardGairdner Foundation International AwardThe Gairdner Foundation International Award is given annually at a special dinner to three to six people for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a precursor to winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine; as of 2007, 69 Nobel...
- TibotecTibotecTibotec is a pharmaceutical company with a focus on research and development for the treatment of infectious diseases such as HIV , and Hepatitis C...
- Rega Institute for Medical ResearchRega Institute for Medical ResearchThe Rega Institute for Medical Research is a Belgian scientific establishment that is part of the Catholic University of Leuven in central Belgium...
Further reading
- Lewi, Paul J., Successful Pharmaceutical Discovery: Paul Janssen's Concept of Drug Research, R&D Management, Vol. 37, Issue 4, pp. 355–362, September 2007.
- van Gestel S, Schuermans V, Thirty-three years of drug discovery and research with Dr. Paul Janssen, Drug Development Research, Volume 8, Issue 1–4, pp. 1–13.
- In memory of Dr. Paul Janssen
- Rory Watson, Paul Janssen, BMJ 2003;327;1290
- 1996 Australia Prize