This physician-scientist develops potent new medicines…fast

Hugh Rosen, MD, PhD, is exceptionally well equipped to discover and deliver new medicines to patients, possessing an impressive medical background as well as practical expertise from his leadership years in the pharmaceutical field. Now he’s back in the laboratory, concentrating that wealth of knowledge and training on developing new medicines for patients with unmet medical needs. And he’s having great success.

Research in his Molecular Medicine laboratory led to the discovery and development of a breakthrough compound, ozanimod, that not only slows brain atrophy in patients with multiple sclerosis but also shows promise for treating a number of other autoimmune conditions, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. 

He credits the capabilities and collaboration available at Scripps Research for making this seminal discovery possible.

“The ozanimod story highlights the uniqueness of Scripps Research,” he says.

There are hardly any other academic institutions in the world that have the multi-disciplinary expertise to discover a new disease-modifying compound and develop it most of the way toward clinical use.

Further, the 10-year span between discovery of the potential drug and its expected delivery to patients happened “about as fast as you could hope for.”

Rosen knows there’s an additional component to his drug discovery success: funding. Generous financial support from foundations and visionary individuals continues to supplement the grants he receives from the National Institutes of Health.

“We share every one of our successes with our supporters,” he says. “They’re part of our team.”

Thus, with one foot in the laboratory and one foot in the clinic—as well as an eye toward the pharmacy counter—Rosen continues to pursue novel, effective treatments for patients the world over.


Related Links