Kallyope Inc.'s Ann E. Weber, Ph.D., to Receive Prestigious Perkin Medal

PHILADELPHIA, May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), America Group, announced today that Ann E. Weber, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Drug Discovery at Kallyope, Inc., has won the 2017 SCI Perkin Medal. This honor recognizes her outstanding work in the field of medicinal chemistry, especially her work leading to the development of the drugs JANUVIA^® and JANUMET^® for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. Weber will receive the medal at a dinner in her honor on Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at the Hilton Penn's Landing Hotel in Philadelphia.

"Dr. Weber is an exceptional research scientist whose mastery of medicinal chemistry has impacted millions of lives," said Christopher D. Pappas, President and CEO of Trinseo, and Chair of SCI America. "Her passion to improve the human condition, coupled with her strong leadership skills have had a profound influence on pharmaceutical innovation."

About Ann E. Weber
Ann E. Weber, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President – Drug Discovery at Kallyope Inc., a New York City-based biotechnology company focused on identification of therapeutic opportunities involving the gut-brain axis. In this role she is responsible for translating biology arising from the company's state-of the-art technology platform into drug discovery and development programs. She retired in November 2015 from Merck & Co., where she most recently held the position of Vice President – Lead Optimization Chemistry at Merck Research Laboratories (MRL), responsible for the discovery of innovative therapeutic agents across disease areas. She joined MRL as a Senior Research Chemist in 1987.

Dr. Weber's research interests include the design and synthesis of ligands for G-protein coupled receptors, ion channels and enzymes. Her work has led to over 40 development candidates, including JANUVIA^® (sitagliptin), a treatment for patients with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), JANUMET^®, a fixed dose combination of sitagliptin and metformin, and MARIZEV^® (omarigliptin), a once-weekly treatment for T2DM that was approved in Japan in September 2015.  An additional drug candidate, vibegron for the treatment of overactive bladder, is in late stage clinical trials.

Dr. Weber is the author or co-author of over 80 publications.  She is co-inventor on over 35 issued US patents. Her awards include the Robert M. Scarborough Award for Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry (American Chemistry Society (ACS)), the Heroes of Chemistry Award (ACS), the Discoverer's Award (PhRMA), recognizing scientists whose work has been of special benefit to humankind, and a Directors' Award, the highest honor that Merck confers on its employees. She is a 2013 Liberty Science Center Women in STEM Honoree and the recipient of the 2015 Gift of Mentoring Award from the Metro Women Chemists Committee. In 2016 she was named to the Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame (ACS).

Before joining Merck, Dr. 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 in the laboratories of Professor David A. Evans.

About the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Perkin Medal
The annual award is recognized as the highest honor given for outstanding work in applied chemistry in the United States. It commemorates the discovery of the first synthetic dye (the so-called Perkin mauve) by Sir William Henry Perkin in 1856. This discovery was a significant step forward in organic chemistry that led to the birth of a major segment of the chemical industry. The SCI Perkin Medal was first awarded to Sir William at a banquet held by the SCI in New York in 1906. Since then, more than 100 such awards have been given to notable scientists.

About the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)
SCI America Group, launched in 1894, is part of the Society of Chemical Industry's international organization. It provides a unique networking forum for chemical industry leaders, industrial scientists and technologists to exchange new business ideas and best practices. It celebrates achievement to promote public awareness of the contributions of industrial chemistry and inspire students to enter technical careers. SCI America events are managed by the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF).

The Perkin Medal award dinner will be the final event of Innovation Day, a full day of research collaboration in the molecular sciences held at CHF on September 12, 2017.

About the Chemical Heritage Foundation
CHF fosters dialogue on science and technology in society. Our staff and fellows study the past in order to understand the present and inform the future. We focus on matter and materials and their effects on our modern world in territory ranging from the physical sciences and industries, through the chemical sciences and engineering, to the life sciences and technologies. We collect, preserve, and exhibit historical artifacts; engage communities of scientists and engineers; and tell the stories of the people behind breakthroughs and innovations.

About Kallyope, Inc.
Kallyope is a new biotechnology company headquartered in New York City. Founded by Richard Axel, Tom Maniatis, and Charles Zuker from Columbia University in November 2015, we are focused on the identification of new therapeutic opportunities involving the gut-brain axis.  

Kallyope is creating an industry-leading platform employing cutting edge technologies, including single cell sequencing, bioinformatics, opto- and chemo-genetics, circuit mapping, and neural imaging, for the purpose of identifying and targeting gut-brain circuits involved in health and disease.  The Company is well funded, and has assembled an outstanding scientific team with deep expertise in core platform technologies, and a leadership team with a proven track record of success in drug discovery and translation.    

The Company is headquartered in the Alexandria Center^® for Life Sciences, a state-of-the-art, collaborative life science campus in the heart of Manhattan, with close proximity to New York City's world-leading clinical and research institutions.   For more information, see www.kallyope.com.

SOURCE SCI America