Emma Parmee is a British chemist and research scientist who is a co-inventor of numerous drug patents. She was one of the leading researchers in the development of sitagliptin and was awarded a Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award in 2007 and the Society of Chemical Industry's Gordon E Moore Medal in 2009 for her contributions.[1]
Emma Parmee | |
|---|---|
 Emma Parmee, 2009 | |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Emma Rachel Parmee |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | scientist |
| Employer | Merck & Co. |
| Awards | Gordon E. Moore Medal (SCI) |
Biography
editEmma Rachel Parmee was born in the United Kingdom obtaining a BA and PhD at the University of Oxford in chemistry.[2] She completed her thesis in 1990[3] and was awarded a NATO post-doctoral fellowship. She moved to the United States to complete her post-doctoral work under Saturo Masamune at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying catalysts of asymmetric synthesis for aldol reactions. She completed her post-doctoral research in 1992 and joined Merck & Co. that same year working at their research laboratory in Rahway, New Jersey.[2]
In 2006, Parmee was one of the lead investigators in the discovery of the selective Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor sitagliptin (marketed by Merck under the trade name Januvia). The drug is used to treat Type 2 Diabetes and provides glucose lowering benefits without the side effects of some of the previously available treatments.[4] Her involvement was recognised by the award of the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey,[5] the Prix Galien[6] for Endocrinology in 2007[7] and the receipt of the 2009 Gordon E Moore Medal from the Society of Chemical Industry.[4]
In 2010, Parmee left the Rahway lab and moved to the facility at West Point, Pennsylvania, where she served as the site lead for chemical discovery until 2013. Her group developed a small molecule CGRP antagonist.[8] She was then promoted to Associate Vice-President and Head of Exploratory Chemistry . She also serves as the co-chair of the Early Discovery Council for Merck Research Laboratories. She has written more than forty papers which have appeared in peer-reviewed publications and has filed for over thirty US patents on her work.[9] Parmee lives with her husband, son, and daughter.
Selected works
edit- Karim, Sufia; Parmee, Emma R; Thomas, Eric J (May 1991). "Milbemycin synthesis: synthesis of 6β-hydroxy-3,4-dihydromilbemycin E". Tetrahedron Letters. 32 (20): 2269–2272. doi:10.1016/s0040-4039(00)79699-7.
- Parmee, Emma R; Ok, Hyun O; Candelore, Mari R; et al. (1998). "Discovery of L-755,507: A subnanomolar human β 3 adrenergic receptor agonist". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 8 (9): 1107–1112. doi:10.1016/s0960-894x(98)00170-x. PMID 9871717.
- Parmee, Emma R; Naylor, Elizabeth M; Perkins, Leroy; et al. (1999). "Human β 3 adrenergic receptor agonists containing cyclic ureidobenzenesulfonamides". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 9 (5): 749–754. doi:10.1016/s0960-894x(99)00073-6. PMID 10201841.
- Mastracchio, Anthony; Parmee, Emma R; Leiting, Barbara; et al. (May 2004). "Heterocycle-Fused Cyclohexylglycine Derivatives as Novel Dipeptidyl Peptidase-IV Inhibitors". ChemInform. 35 (20). doi:10.1002/chin.200420183.
- Parmee, Emma R.; Sinharoy, Ranabir; Xu, Feng; Givand, Jeffrey C.; Rosen, Lawrence A. (2012). "Discovery and Development of the DPP-4 Inhibitor Januvia™ (Sita-Gliptin)". Case Studies in Modern Drug Discovery and Development. pp. 10–44. doi:10.1002/9781118219683.ch2. ISBN 9781118219683.
References
edit- ^ Center for Oral History. "Emma R. Parmee". Science History Institute.
- ^ a b "12th Annual Maria Goeppert-Mayer Interdisciplinary Symposium". Zurich, Switzerland: University of Zurich. 2006. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Synthesis of avermectins and milbemycins". British Library. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Emma Parmee Gordon E Moore 2009 Medalist". London, England: Society of Chemical Industry. 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "The Research & Development Council of New Jersey 2007 Thomas Alva Edison Patent Awards". Cosmetiscope. 13 (10). Mt. Freedom, New Jersey: New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists: 10. December 2007.
- ^ "31st Annual Tribute to Women and Industry Awards Dinner". Plainfield, New Jersey: YWCA of Central New Jersey. 26 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Winners Sorted by Medical Field". Neuilly sur Seine, France: Prix Galien. 2015. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Emma Parmee, Vice President, Discovery Chemistry, Merck". Industry Matters Newsletter. American Chemical Society. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ "Dr. Emma R. Parmee". Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard University. 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.