Distinguished Women in Science Seminar

Thursday, November 1st and
Friday, November 2nd
Dr. Ann E. Weber

This seminar is free and open to the public. All Stanford University Chemistry students are encouraged to attend this special event.

About the seminars:
"Discovery of JANUVIA™ (sitagliptin), a selective dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes" (Thursday, November 1st)

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4), a member of a family of proline selective serine dipeptidases, is responsible for the N-terminal inactivation of GLP-1 and GIP, incretin hormones that evoke glucose dependent secretion of insulin and inhibition of glucagon release. Inhibitors of DPP-4 have been shown to increase circulating levels of GLP-1 and GIP, both in animal models and in the clinic, resulting in improved glucose tolerance. Thus, DPP-4 inhibitors represent a potential new therapy for type 2 diabetes. Early a-amino acid-derived DPP-4 inhibitors that were not selective over related family members, in particular DPP8 and DPP9, induced profound toxicities in preclinical species. SAR studies on two novel screening hits provided a series of ß-amino acid-derived inhibitors that were highly selective over these enzymes. Optimization of this series led to the discovery of JANUVIA™ (sitagliptin), a selective DPP-4 inhibitor which was recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

"From organic chemist to drug discovery scientist: the secret life of one soccer mom." (Friday, November 2nd)

About Weber:
Dr. Ann E. Weber obtained her B.S. degree in chemistry summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame. She earned her Ph.D. degree from Harvard University, studying synthetic organic chemistry is the laboratories of Professor David A. Evans. Following completion of her degree in 1987, Dr. Weber joined Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, NJ as a Senior Research Chemist. She is currently Executive Director of medicinal chemistry. Dr. Weber’s research interests include the design and synthesis of ligands for G-protein coupled receptors, ion channels and enzymes. She has worked in the area of obesity research where her group identified a ß3-adrenergic receptor agonist that was used for key proof of concept studies in the clinic, demonstrating that stimulation of this target did not induce weight loss in humans. She went on to lead a cross functional team of chemists and biologists that discovered JANUVIA™ (sitagliptin phosphate), which was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2006 as a new treatment for patients with Type 2 diabetes. JANUMET™, a fixed dose combination of sitagliptin and metformin, was approve by the FDA in March 2007. Currently, efforts in her group target new treatments for patients with diabetes, obesity, pain, atherosclerosis, and urinary incontinence. Dr. Weber is the author or co-author of over 55 publications. She is co-inventor on 21 issued US patents with 14 additional applications pending. In 2002 she was named a Women at the Forefront of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee. She received the 2007 Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and a Directors’ Award from Merck for her contributions to the discovery of JANUVIA™. She was part of a team that received the 2007 Prix Galien USA for JANUVIA™.

Questions
Please contact Patricia Dwyer at 650-723-4770.