John J. Talley is an American

medicinal chemist Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developmen ...

who was the lead chemist in the discovery of the COX-2 selective

nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are members of a therapeutic drug class which reduces pain, decreases inflammation, decreases fever, and prevents blood clots. Side effects depend on the specific drug, its dose and duration of ...

celecoxib Celecoxib, sold under the brand name Celebrex among others, is a COX-2 inhibitor and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is used to treat the pain and inflammation in osteoarthritis, acute pain in adults, rheumatoid arthritis, ankyl ...

and a co-inventor of

amprenavir Amprenavir (original brand name Agenerase, GlaxoSmithKline) is a protease inhibitor (pharmacology), protease inhibitor used to treat HIV infection. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on April 15, 1999, for twice-a-day dosing in ...

, a protease inhibitor used to treat

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

infection. He earned his BA at the University of Northern Iowa and his PhD in chemistry from the University of Minnesota. From 1979 to 1986 he worked at the

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

R&D center in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

then joined the

Searle Searle may refer to: __NOTOC__ Persons * Searle (surname) * J. Searle Dawley (1877–1949), American film director, producer, screenwriter, stage actor and playwright * Searle Turton (born 1979), Canadian politician Places * Serle, a comune in Lomb ...

division of

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in th ...

, where he led the team that discovered celecoxib, as well as other marketed COX-2 inhibitors

valdecoxib Valdecoxib is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and painful menstruation and menstrual symptoms. It is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor. It was patented in 1995. V ...

parecoxib Parecoxib, sold under the brand name Dynastat among others, is a water-soluble and injectable prodrug of valdecoxib. Parecoxib is a COX2 selective inhibitor. It is injectable. It is approved through much of Europe for short term perioperative p ...

, and

mavacoxib Mavacoxib (trade name Trocoxil) is a veterinary drug used to treat pain and inflammation in dogs with degenerative joint disease. It acts as a COX-2 inhibitor. Mavacoxib, along with other COX-2 selective inhibitors, celecoxib, valdecoxib, and p ...

, as well as amprenavir which licensed by Searle to

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Vertex Pharmaceuticals is an American biopharmaceutical company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the first biotech firms to use an explicit strategy of rational drug design rather than combinatorial chemistry. It maintains headqua ...

. In 2002 he was hired by Microbia to lead their antifungal drug discovery efforts. He left the company in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talley, John Living people 20th-century American chemists Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) University of Northern Iowa alumni University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni