Bernard Belleau (March 15, 1925 – September 4, 1989) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

molecular

pharmacologist Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemic ...

best known for his role in the discovery of

Lamivudine Lamivudine, commonly called 3TC, is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is also used to treat chronic hepatitis B when other options are not possible. It is effective against both HIV-1 and HIV-2. It is typicall ...

, a drug used in the treatment of HIV and Hepatitis B infection.

Biography

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, he gained his BSc (1947) and MSc (1948) from the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

and his PhD in 1950 at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

. During his time at the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research he discovered the Fujimoto-Belleau reaction, which is named after him and George I. Fujimoto. After various academic research postings in the U.S. and Canada he became Professor of Chemistry at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

in 1961. He moved to McGill University in 1971. Belleau worked in the 1960s and 1970s on research programs with Bristol Laboratories, one of which led to the non-narcotic analgesic Butorphanol. Butorphanol was found to have over five times the potency of morphine with far fewer side effects. Butorphanol is often used to relieve post-surgical pain and in the management of migraine headaches. In the mid-1980s he helped found what became the biotech company BioChem Pharma with colleagues Francesco Bellini and Gervais Dionne. The trio began work on the anti-AIDS drug, 2,3 dideoxy – 3-thiacytidine (3TC). Just prior to his death in 1989 he laid the foundations for Lamivudine's development, which was a significant advance in the fight against AIDS, and is credited with saving over 2 million lives. In 1981, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. In 1978, he was awarded the Quebec government's

Prix Marie-Victorin The Prix Marie-Victorin is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, which "goes to researchers in the pure and applied sciences whose work lies in fields outside biomedicine. These fields include the natural and ph ...

. In 1979, he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's McLaughlin Medal. In 2000, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame In 1977/78 he was awarded a Killam fellowship from The Canada Council for the Arts.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belleau, Bernard 1925 births 1989 deaths Canadian pharmacologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada People from Montreal Université de Montréal alumni McGill University alumni