Akira Endo was a biochemist whose research led to the creation of cholesterol-fighting statin drugs, now some of the most widely prescribed pharmaceuticals in the world.
- Died: June 5, 2024 (Who else died on June 5?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 90.
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Akira Endo’s legacy
Akira Endo was born on a farm in Japan during a time when penicillin was changing the face of medicine. As a result, he developed an interest in fungi and its potential to cure diseases. He went on to earn his PhD in biochemistry at Tohoko University.
Endo was working with the Japanese pharmaceutical company Sankyo in the 1970s when he began researching the link between fungi and how our bodies produce cholesterol. By this time, it was known that blocking enzymes that produce “bad” cholesterol would be key, but the question was how. Endo and a team of scientists experimented with fungi, testing thousands of formulas before finally coming across something that worked.
Tests began at Osaka University, and full clinical trials began in the mid ‘70s. Before long, statins hit the market worldwide and became one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the world. Some 200 million people take them worldwide.
However, Endo left Sankyo shortly after his discovery, becoming a professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. His awards and recognitions include the Heinrich Wieland Prize, Warren Alpert Foundation Prize from Harvard Medical School, and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Alexandria, Virginia, among others.
Notable quote
“Nowadays, it is said that money is important. However, we can find the pleasure of life and the value, when we do something for the world with a sense of mission. What I have done was rather for the world than a Japanese company or Japan. It was needed all over the world, so I challenged for it. …I want to tell young people the message that the philosophy and sense of value of doing something for the world are more important than making money. That is the work left for me from now on.” — ScienceHeroes
Tributes to Akira Endo
Full obituary: The Washington Post
