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			John Colin Emmett Born Apr 27 1939 Pharmacologically Active Guanidine Compounds Tagamet - Cimetidine Patent Number(s) 3,950,333; 4,024,271 Inducted 1990 Graham J. Durant, John Colin Emmett, and C. Robin Ganellin led the SmithKline Beecham Corporation's research team that discovered the H2 receptor class of drugs, including cimetidine, which inhibits the production of stomach acid. Durant, Emmett, and Ganellin's work, begun in 1964 and done in collaboration with Nobel laureate biologist Sir James Black, established a physiological role for histamine in the control of gastric acid secretions-the major cause of ulcers. Invention Impact The World Health Organization lists cimetidine, known by the brand name Tagamet, as one of the world's most essential drugs for its ability to heal stomach ulcers without surgery. Inventor Bio Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, Emmett read chemistry at Queen Mary College, London University (B.Sc., Ph.D.) and at Yale University. He is currently a consultant with Euromedica Ltd. He is named co-inventor on more than 100 U.S. patents in the fields of H2 antagonists, selective phosphodiesterase inhibitors, and selective thyromimetics.