Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Scientific Advisor Robert H. Grubbs Wins 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
PASADENA, CA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 10, 2005--Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an
ion channel drug discovery company, announced today its congratulations to Dr. Robert H.
Grubbs, Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and winner of
the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Dr. Grubbs is one of the original members of Neurion's
Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), and one of three Neurion SAB members drawn from the Caltech
faculty.
According to the official statement by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Dr.
Grubbs and two other winners will share this year’s prize in chemistry "for the development of the
metathesis method in organic synthesis." Metathesis is an organic reaction that makes many
scientifically and commercially important chemical processes more efficient, and enables the
production of "custom-built" molecules with novel properties.
Dr. Dennis Dougherty, George Grant Hoag Professor of Chemistry at Caltech, and scientific cofounder
of Neurion, said of his long-time colleague and office neighbor, "We are tremendously
proud of Bob. It has been an honor to be associated with him all these years at Caltech, and to
receive his counsel as a fellow member of Neurion's SAB."
Grubb's work is now applied routinely in fields as diverse as pharmaceuticals, plastics and
sporting goods materials. Discoveries from his lab are the basis of several life science start-up
companies in Pasadena. He is widely regarded as a friend, trusted advisor and role model for
Caltech entrepreneurs in the life sciences and chemistry.
About Neurion
Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.neurionpharma.com)
is a privately held, early-stage pharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover and develop safer and more effective
pharmaceuticals that target ion channels. The Company uses its proprietary drug discovery and lead optimization platforms to understand the structural basis of ligand interactions with ion
channels, and to design better drugs by exploiting this knowledge.
