The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists for their work in combating parasitic diseases, efforts the committee described as “a paradigm shift” in treatment.
William Campbell of Drew University in New Jersey and Satoshi Omura of Japan shared the prize with Tu Youyou of China.
Campbell and Omura were awarded for their work in developing a medicine that dramatically cut the rates of river blindness and elephantiasis. Tu, inspired by the power of herbs, helped develop a powerfully effective treatment for malaria.
About 3.4 billion people in 100 nations are at risk of the debilitating diseases.
Committee member Hans Forssberg said the trio’s work “has promoted well-being and prosperity for both individuals and society.”
Omura, 80, of Kitasato University in Tokyo, collected thousands of soil samples to isolate bacteria that led to the development, with Merck & Co. Inc., of ivermectin, which is taken by 300 million people annually for treatment of the roundworm parasite that causes the two diseases.
The conditions afflict one in seven people on the planet, according to a biography of Omura on the university’s website.
An eradication program led by the World Health Organization using the donated drug has been underway since 1987.
Campbell, 85, helped further develop the drug, showing its impact on killing the parasite in farm animals.
Omura “had a vision to find agents in nature,” Forssberg said.
Tu, 84, inspired by a description in a 1,700-year-old Chinese text of the use of sweet wormwood to combat fever, discovered artemisinin, which has been used by millions against malaria. She is affiliated with the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing.
All three diseases are transmitted by parasites carried by mosquitos.
“The resulting benefit to mankind (of the treatments) is immeasurable,” Forssberg said at a news conference in Stockholm where the prizes were announced.
Nobel awards
• Monday, medicine: Tu Youyou, China; Satoshi Omura, Japan; William Campbell, Irish-born American
• Tuesday: Physics
• Wednesday: Chemistry
• Friday: Peace Prize
• Oct. 12: Economics
