Ivars Kalviņš (born 2 June 1947) is a Latvian (and former Soviet Union) chemist who invented the prescription drug

meldonium Meldonium (International Nonproprietary Name, INN; trade name Mildronate, among others) is a pharmaceutical developed in 1970 by Ivars Kalviņš at the USSR Latvia Institute of Organic Synthesis. It is now manufactured by the Latvian pharma ...

, trade-named Mildronate.Ivars KALVIŅŠ
. Inventions.lza.lv. Retrieved on 14 May 2016.

Biography

In 1969 Kalviņš graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry,

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

, and in 1985 defended a

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

at the

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

. Since 1986 he works at the Riga Institute of Organic Synthesis, which he headed in 2003–2014. Earlier between 1994 and 2000 he served as President of the Latvian Society of Chemistry. Kalviņš was involved in the synthesis of several drugs, including meldonium, leakadin, neramexane, and

belinostat Belinostat (trade name Beleodaq, previously known as PXD101) is a histone deacetylase inhibitor drug developed by TopoTarget for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. It was approved in July 2014 by the US FDA to treat pe ...

Awards and honors

Kalviņš is an Officer of

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

and since 1994 is a full member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the State Prize of the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

in 1988 and the Grand Medal of Academy of Sciences of Latvia in 2009. He was nominated as a finalist for the

European Inventor Award The European Inventor Award (formerly European Inventor of the Year Award, renamed in 2010), are presented annually by the European Patent Office, sometimes supported by the respective Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the Eur ...

2015. As a member of a team of authors he received the "Annual Award in Science 2017" for the development of a new and promising compound E1R (

methylphenylpiracetam Methylphenylpiracetam is a derivative of piracetam and a positive allosteric modulator of the sigma-1 receptor. It differs from phenylpiracetam by having a methyl group. E1R is the (4''R'',5''S'') stereoisomer of methylphenylpiracetam that ha ...

) for improving memory and treating epilepsy. The E1R is the first known and published positive allosteric modulator of Sigma 1 receptor that improves memory processes and prevents seizures.

References

External links

Интервью
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalvins, Ivars 1947 births Living people Scientists from Riga Latvian chemists Soviet chemists Academicians of the Latvian Academy of Sciences University of Latvia alumni 20th-century Latvian inventors