 |
David Wayne Cushman
(November 15, 1939—August 14, 2000)
|
hi-res
(Photo credit: Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation)
|
|
|
David Cushman and Miguel Ondetti synthesized captopril, an oral
drug that significantly reduces hypertension in more than eighty
percent of users and has no side effects on the central or
autonomic nervous systems. Captopril was the first in a
life-saving class of drugs known as angiotensin converting
enzyme, or ACE, inhibitors.
Cushman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. After earning is
Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, he joined Bristol-Myers
Squibb, studying ACE inhibitors with Ondetti. Angiotensin was
suspected of playing a role in regulating blood pressure, but
the mechanism by which it did was not understood. Cushman and
Ondetti developed the first quantitative analysis of ACE,
purifying and characterizing the active enzyme. By 1970, they
had isolated the amino-acid peptide that was an effective ACE
inhibitor. After years of trying unsuccessfully to make the drug
in pill form, they made a breakthrough in 1974, synthesizing
captopril. The FDA approved captopril for medical use in 1982.
Originally approved for treatment of hypertension, ACE
inhibitors have since been shown to be effective in treating
patients with congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus,
chronic renal insufficiency, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular
disease.
Paul Baran
Emmett W.
Chappelle
John E.
Franz
Leroy E. Hood
Paul Christian
Lauterbur
Peter
Mansfield
Robert M.
Metcalfe
David Wayne
Cushman
Donald
Watts Davies
William A.
Goddard
Peter
Carl Goldmark
Maurice
Ralph Hilleman
Godfrey
Newbold Hounsfield
John Joseph Lynott
Arthur
Nobile
Miguel
Angel Ondetti
Otto
Wichterle
|
