Inventors Of Lifesaving Drug Xigris(tm) Receive Inventor Of The Year Award; IPO Singles Out Creators of Severe Sepsis Treatment

6/5/2002

From: Colleen Dermody, 202-887-0500 ext. 18 Charissa Benjamin, 202-887-0500 ext. 17 both for the Intellectual Property Owners Association

WASHINGTON, June 5 -- Americans who fall victim to the often-deadly infection severe sepsis may now have a fighting chance due to the painstaking work of ten researchers who today received the Inventor of the Year Award. The Inventor of the Year Award is one of the nation's most prestigious awards for breakthrough inventions and is given annually by the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO).

Scientists from Eli Lilly and Company shared the 29th Annual Inventor of the Year Award for their invention of the lifesaving drug Xigris(tm), a groundbreaking biotech medicine for adults with life-threatening severe sepsis. Severe sepsis strikes about 750,000 Americans each year. Of those, at least 215,000 die, about as many as die as the result of acute heart attacks. According to the journal Critical Care Medicine, it is the leading cause of death in non-coronary intensive care units.

"It's hard to believe that an otherwise healthy person complaining of flu-like symptoms could end up, within 24 hours, in the emergency room, weak and disoriented, with systemic blood coagulation and kidney and lung failure," said Dr. Brian W. Grinnell, Executive Director of Bioproduct Discovery Research for Eli Lilly & Co. "Unfortunately, this is how quickly severe sepsis can begin, but fortunately we now have a treatment. "

"The inventors of Xigris(tm) deserve the Inventor of the Year Award for their creative genius. Their contribution to the survival of people who contract severe sepsis is extraordinary," said Herbert C. Wamsley, Executive Director of IPO. "Their compound is at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution and certainly deserves our recognition and praise."

"As a survivor of severe sepsis I can just say that I'm happy to be alive," said Las Vegas Assemblywoman Sandra Tiffany. She was treated with Xigris in March. "Every day now for me is a miracle. I enjoy the little things - and the big things in life. My life is much more relevant to me now."

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xigris(tm) as a severe sepsis treatment for adults with life-threatening severe sepsis in November 2001 after 20 years of failed efforts by companies to find such a treatment. More than 20 drugs were unsuccessfully tested as possible sepsis treatments in over 30 clinical trials before this drug's demonstrated its effectiveness. At this time Xigris(tm) is the only FDA-approved medicine for severe sepsis.

The inventors are Robert J. Beckmann, Drs. Nils U. Bang, Brian W. Grinnell, Daniel L. Hartman, Richard Jaskunas, Mei-Hui T. Lai, Sheila Little, George L. Long, Robert F. Santerre, and Sau-Chi Betty Yan

--- EDITOR'S/REPORTER'S NOTE: For more information about IPO, Xigris(tm) or photographs please contact Charissa Benjamin at 202-887-0500 ext. 17. Visit IPO at www.ipo.org.

Founded in 1972, IPO is the trade association that serves owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets in all industries and fields of technology. IPO was established to broaden public understanding of intellectual property rights. Members include large and small businesses, universities, intellectual property attorneys, and independent inventors and authors. To be eligible for the Inventor of the Year Award, an invention must have been patented or first marketed in the past four years. Past winners include, Paul Macready for the "Gossamer Condor," a human-powered flying device, Robert Jarvik for the Jarvik Seven Artificial Heart, James L. Fergason for liquid crystal displays, and Amar G. Bose for a folded waveguide loudspeaker system.