Valium Inventor Inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame

Press Release:

Valium Inventor Inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame

Press Release
News Article February 2005

- Roche Scientist Leo Sternbach Honored for Contributions to Society and Promoting Scientific Progress -

NUTLEY, N.J., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche is very proud to announce that Leo H. Sternbach, Ph.D., one of the inventors of Valium(R) (diazepam), has been selected as a 2005 Inductee to the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) for his contributions to medicine. Sternbach, now 96, will be honored at the Annual Induction Ceremony held in Akron, Ohio in May.

The selection committee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation chose Sternbach, as one of 14 2005 Inductees to the Hall of Fame. The Selection Committee includes representatives from the leading national scientific and technical organizations. To be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, nominees must hold at least one U.S. patent.

"Leo Sternbach's pharmaceutical breakthroughs perfectly illustrate the enormous impact that National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees have on our society and our economy," said Fred Allen, head of the Selection Committee for the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. "We're honored to welcome him into the Hall of Fame in recognition of his high caliber work."

"We are very pleased that Dr. Sternbach has been selected for this prestigious honor. He is a unique individual with a demonstrated passion for science -- he is an inventor's inventor," said George Abercrombie, president and CEO, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. "Within every company, there are one or two people whose legacy becomes the hallmark of what the company is all about. For Roche, that is Dr. Sternbach. The invention of the first blockbuster drug, Valium, by Dr. Sternbach and his colleagues was a turning point for Roche, which later led to other innovative drugs such as Rocephin(R) (oseltamivir phosphate), Invirase(R) (saquinavir mesylate) and Pegasys(R) (peginterferon alfa-2a)."

Sternbach was born in Abbazia, Austria (now Croatia) on May 7, 1908, into a European world that would soon cease to exist. He spent his early years in Austria and Poland and gained his initial scientific skills from working with his pharmacist father. He later went on to receive a degree in Pharmacy from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Sternbach began working at Roche's international headquarters in Basel, Switzerland in 1940. However, with the rise of anti-Semitism in 1941 and the imminent Nazi occupation of Switzerland, Roche sent all of its Jewish scientists, including Sternbach and his wife Herta, to the United States.

In 1941, Sternbach began working at the eventual U.S. headquarters of Roche in Nutley, N.J. It was here that Sternbach, along with colleagues Lowell Randall and Earl Reeder, began experimenting with what was to become a revolutionary class of safe and effective tranquilizers, the benzodiazepines, used to treat sleep and anxiety disorders. The first drugs in this new class of tranquilizers were Librium(R) (chlordiazepoxide) and Valium.

"It has brought me great comfort to know that I could, in some way, help people feel better," Sternbach said. "Being a chemist, I spent most of my life working in a laboratory, hoping that I could make a difference. Knowing that Valium has positively impacted the lives of millions of Americans, and that my research has paved the way for other such discoveries, is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life."

Approved by the FDA in 1963, Valium was the most prescribed drug in the United States from 1969 to 1982. Throughout 1978, 2.3 billion doses of Valium were taken, making the little drug with the stamped "V" the first to be considered an undeniable blockbuster. Valium celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2003.

Most of Sternbach's breakthroughs involved the central nervous system (CNS) -- a result of his pioneering experimentation in the new class of tranquilizers. Valium, Librium, Quarzan(R) (clidinium bromide), Mogadon(R) (nitrazepam) and Klonopin(R) (clonazepam) are examples of products that have emerged from his laboratory for various uses: tranquilizers, anticonvulsants, hypnotics, anticholinergics. His first accomplishment, in the 1940s, was the synthesis of biotin, a vitamin of the B class. He also developed Arfonad(R) (trimetaphan camsilate) for minimizing bleeding during CNS-related surgery.

Sternbach holds over 241 U.S. patents and has contributed to over 122 publications and six monographs. During his illustrious career, Sternbach earned numerous awards. In 1987, he was named Inventor of the Year by the New York Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law Association and was declared one of the "25 Most Influential Americans of the 20th Century" by U.S. News & World Report. In 2003, Sternbach published his autobiography, titled: Good Chemistry: The Life and Times of Valium Inventor Leo Sternbach.

Sternbach retired from Roche in 1973 after completing a career that spanned over six decades. A long-time resident of Montclair, NJ, he and his wife, Herta, now reside in Chapel Hill, NC.

This press release is provided in good-faith by Chiltern Magazine Services Ltd ("CMS") as a service to users of www.telecomsinfo.com. Whilst all care is taken in sourcing and preparing material includede here, any error or incorrect content cannot form the basis for any legal action against the site-owner. Users are advised to check the accuracy of any statements before relying upon them. Likewise, any forward-looking statements made by the author of the press release should be treated as such.

CMS, P&A House, Alma Road, Chesham, Bucks. HP5 3HB, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1494 771734
Fax: +44 (0)1494 778994
e-mail: Editor, CMSinfo

For more information about us, visit CMSinfo.