Bruce Roth

Bruce D. Roth is an American organic and medicinal chemist who trained at Saint Joseph's College, Iowa State University and the University of Rochester, and, at the age of 32, discovered atorvastatin, the statin-class drug sold as Lipitor that would become the largest-selling drug in pharmaceutical history (as of 2003). His honours include being named a 2008 Hero of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society, and being chosen as the Perkin Medal awardee, the highest honour given in the U.S. chemical industry, by the Society of Chemical Industry, American section in 2013.

Early life and education Bruce D. Roth was born in June 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began his academic career in 1972, attending Saint Joseph's College in Philadelphia, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1976.

Roth received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Saint Joseph's College, Philadelphia, in 1976. He then went to Iowa State University as a doctoral student under George Kraus, receiving his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1981.

Career Roth has held a number of positions in his career, from "Scientist" (medicinal chemist) through to vice president-level positions in drug discovery, and his accomplishments in his career include the discovery of the molecule atorvastatin, which would become the drug Lipitor.

Positions In 1982, 28-year-old Roth began work as a medicinal chemist for the Parke Davis research area of Warner-Lambert, He then joined Genentech in San Francisco, California as Vice President of Discovery Chemistry.

Atorvastatin Before atorvastatin, Roth worked to develop a different drug, but Sandoz AG beat his team to a patent. In 1985, while working at Warner-Lambert's Parke-Davis research facility, Roth "identified a molecule" that inhibited HMG CoA reductase, a "key enzyme in the metabolic pathway the body uses to produce cholesterol."

Roth was listed as the inventor of trans-6-[2-(3- or 4-carboxamido-substituted pyrrol-1-yl)alkyl]-4-hydroxypyran-2-one, patented in 1986, and developed into the on-market drug, atorvastatin, which ultimately would be sold as Lipitor, and which would become the largest-selling drug in pharmaceutical history by 2003. Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert and Lipitor in 2000.

Other activities From 1996 until 2007, Roth served as an adjunct professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Michigan.

Awards and honours For the discovery of atorvastatin, Roth received the 1997 Warner-Lambert Chairman's Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, the 2003 Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Service, In 2013, he was chosen as the Perkin Medal awardee, the highest honour given in the U.S. chemical industry, by the Society of Chemical Industry, American section, for his innovation in applied chemistry that resulted in the outstanding commercial success of atorvastatin.

His publications include:

Roth BD, Bocan TMA, Blankley CJ, Chucholowski AW, Creger PL, Creswell MW, Ferguson E, Newton RS, O'Brien P, Picard JA, Roark WH, Sekerke CS, Sliskovic DR, Wilson MW. The Relationship Between Tissue Selectivity and Lipophilicity for Inhibitors of HMG-CoA Reductase. J. Med. Chem. 1991, 34, 463-6.