Nancy Thornberry

Nancy A. Thornberry is the founding CEO and current chair, R&D at Kallyope Inc. in New York City.[1] She previously worked with Merck Research Laboratories (MRL), joining the company in 1979 as a biochemist and retiring from the position of senior vice president and franchise head, diabetes and endocrinology in 2013.[2]

Nancy Ann Thornberry
Nancy Thornberry, 2017
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMuhlenberg College
Awards2011 PhRMA Discoverer’s Award
Scientific career
FieldsMetabolic disorders, Drug discovery
InstitutionsKallyope Inc., Merck Research Laboratories

In 1992, Thornberry identified the first caspase, Caspase-1/Interleukin-1 converting enzyme (ICE).[3] In 1999, Thornberry initiated Merck's research into dipeptidyl peptidase-4, leading to the development of FDA-approved treatments for Type 2 diabetes. She has received a number of awards, including the 2011 PhRMA Discoverer’s Award.[2]

Education

Thornberry grew up in South Bend, Indiana.[4] As of 1979, she earned a B.Sc. in Natural Science from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[5][6]

Career

Thornberry joined Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) in Rahway, New Jersey, as a biochemist in 1979. In 1999 she was appointed the director of enzymology, and in 2001 the director of metabolic disorders, with further promotions in 2007, 2009 and 2011.[7] At her retirement from Merck in 2013 Thornberry held the position of senior vice president and franchise head, diabetes and endocrinology.[2]

While an independent consultant to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, Thornberry joined the boards of directors of Intarcia Therapeutics[7] and Abide Therapeutics[8] Both companies are involved in drug discovery targeting diabetes.[7][8] As of November 1, 2015, Thornberry became CEO of Kallyope Inc. in New York City.[2][9][10] In 2022, she joined the board of the New York Genome Center.[11]

Research

Thornberry's research areas include obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, fertility and contraception.[2][7][12] Her work has led to the development of drug candidates including FDA-approved treatments for Type 2 diabetes.[2]

Thornberry was involved in early enzymology research on Lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor used for the treatment of hypertension.[13] Thornberry also helped to identify Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1) as the target of ezetimibe, an inhibitor of cholesterol absorption.[14][15]

In 1992, her work on proteases led to the identification of the first caspase, caspase-1/Interleukin-1 converting enzyme (ICE). She determined that ICE was the cysteine protease responsible for IL-1β processing in monocytes.[3][16] Thornberry also developed a novel method for analyzing protease specificities in combinatorial libraries of positional scanning substrates.[17][8] Her work has led to the broader study of proteases in apoptosis.[18][19]

External video
video icon “PhRMA11 Discoverers Award Winner 2011”, PhRMAPress
video icon “Bench to bedside -- discovery of JANUVIA (Sitagliptin)”, Ann Weber & Nancy Thornberry, TEDxNJIT

Beginning in 1999, Thornberry led the biological team for the development of Januvia™ (generic: sitagliptin), a once-a-day oral medication that inhibits the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) enzyme and improves glucose tolerance to treat Type 2 diabetes. Ann E. Weber led the corresponding chemistry team for the project.[20][21][2] The drug was approved by the FDA in October 2006. Janumet™, a drug combining sitagliptin and metformin was also approved, in April 2007. In 2007, the research team at Merck received the Prix Galien USA award for their work on Januvia™.[22] The Januvia™ project was the first project at Merck to be co-led solely by women and the first project co-led solely by women to win the Discoverers Award.[20]

"Discovering an important new medicine is the goal of every person who works in pharmaceutical research. Until it actually happens, though, there is no way to know how absolutely thrilling it is, and how incredibly and deeply satisfying it feels."[23]

At Kallyope Inc., drug discovery focuses on the study of the brain and the gut, examining connections between neuroscience and neural circuits and the gut and internal organs, to better understand and improve health and nutrition.[2][24]

Thornberry also serves on the Boards of Directors of Intarcia Therapeutics, which is developing diabetes medicine,[7] and of Abide Therapeutics, which is exploring the serine hydrolase family (including DPP-4) as drug targets.[8]

Awards
  • 2013, Women in STEM honoree, Liberty Science Center (LSC)[25]
  • 2011, Discoverer’s Award, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), with Ann E. Weber,[20] for work which "has been of special benefit to humankind".[8]
  • 2011, Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award, Research and Development Council of New Jersey[26]
  • 2010, Heroes of Chemistry Award (ACS) with Ann E. Weber and Joseph Armstrong[27][28][29]
  • 2008, Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award, Muhlenberg College[30]
  • 2007, Prix Galien USA award to the Merck research team for Januvia™[31]
  • 2007, Merck Directors Award for work on Januvia™
  • Merck Presidential Fellowship

References
  1. "New York City arrives as a home for the life sciences". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  2. Wolfe, Josh (28 June 2016). "Harnessing The Gut-Brain Axis". Forbes. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  3. Thornberry NA, Bull HG, Calaycay JR, Chapman KT, Howard AD, Kostura MJ, Miller DK, Molineaux SM, Weidner JR, Aunins J (April 1992). "A novel heterodimeric cysteine protease is required for interleukin-1 beta processing in monocytes". Nature. 356 (6372): 768–74. Bibcode:1992Natur.356..768T. doi:10.1038/356768a0. PMID 1574116. S2CID 4310923.
  4. "Discoverer's Award 2011" (PDF). PhRMA. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  5. "Class of 1979". Muhlenberg College. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  6. Ciarla: An informal history of Muhlenberg College 1978-1979. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Muhlenberg College. 1979. p. 220. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  7. "Intarcia Therapeutics Appoints Nancy Thornberry to Board of Directors". Intarcia Therapeutics. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  8. "Abide Therapeutics Appoints Nancy Thornberry to Board of Directors". Abide Therapeutics. 29 July 2014.
  9. Khamsi, Roxanne (5 August 2016). "Metabolism in Mind: New Insights into the "Gut–Brain Axis" Spur Commercial Efforts to Target It What if controlling the appetite were as easy as flipping a switch?". Scientific American. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  10. Swetlitz, Ike (10 December 2015). "This biotech startup wants to access your brain through the microbes in your gut". Business Insider. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  11. "Nancy Thornberry". New York Genome Center. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  12. "Patents by Inventor Nancy Thornberry". Justia Patents. 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  13. Bull, HG; Thornberry, NA; Cordes, EH (10 March 1985). "Purification of angiotensin-converting enzyme from rabbit lung and human plasma by affinity chromatography". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 260 (5): 2963–72. doi:10.1016/S0021-9258(18)89460-1. PMID 2982846.
  14. Garcia-Calvo, M.; Lisnock, J.; Bull, H. G.; Hawes, B. E.; Burnett, D. A.; Braun, M. P.; Crona, J. H.; Davis, H. R.; Dean, D. C.; Detmers, P. A.; Graziano, M. P.; Hughes, M.; MacIntyre, D. E.; Ogawa, A.; O'Neill, K. A.; Iyer, S. P. N.; Shevell, D. E.; Smith, M. M.; Tang, Y. S.; Makarewicz, A. M.; Ujjainwalla, F.; Altmann, S. W.; Chapman, K. T.; Thornberry, N. A. (31 May 2005). "The target of ezetimibe is Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 102 (23): 8132–8137. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.8132G. doi:10.1073/pnas.0500269102. PMC 1149415. PMID 15928087.
  15. Huff, M. W.; Pollex, R. L.; Hegele, R. A. (1 November 2006). "NPC1L1: Evolution From Pharmacological Target to Physiological Sterol Transporter". Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 26 (11): 2433–2438. doi:10.1161/01.ATV.0000245791.53245.ee. PMID 16973966.
  16. Thornberry, Nancy A.; Molineaux, Susan M. (1995). "Interleukin-1P converting enzyme: A novel cysteine protease required for IL-lP production and implicated in programmed cell death". Protein Science. 4 (4): 3–12. doi:10.1002/pro.5560040102. PMC 2142972. PMID 7773174.
  17. Thornberry, Nancy A.; Rano, Thomas A.; Peterson, Erin P.; Rasper, Dita M.; Timkey, Tracy; Garcia-Calvo, Margarita; Houtzager, Vicky M.; Nordstrom, Penny A.; Roy, Sophie; Vaillancourt, John P.; Chapman, Kevin T.; Nicholson, Donald W. (18 July 1997). "A Combinatorial Approach Defines Specificities of Members of the Caspase Family and Granzyme B". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 272 (29): 17907–17911. doi:10.1074/jbc.272.29.17907. PMID 9218414.
  18. Thornberry, N. A (1 January 1997). "The caspase family of cysteine proteases". British Medical Bulletin. 53 (3): 478–490. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a011625. PMID 9374032. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  19. Schwartz, Lawrence M.; Ashwell, Jonathan, eds. (2001). Apoptosis. Methods in Cell Biology. Vol. 66. San Diego, California: Academic Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0125441650. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  20. "Women Scientists Honored For New Diabetes Oral Medication". PhRMA. 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  21. Cordes, Eugene H. (2014). Hallelujah moments : tales of drug discovery. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 207–. ISBN 9780199337149. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  22. Stowe, Gene (10 April 2008). "Distinguished alumna lecture is like a "mini course in medicinal chemistry"". University of Notre Dame News. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  23. "Skill, Vision and Effort Rewarded". Merck. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  24. Carroll, John (10 December 2015). "In a win for NYC, gut-brain biotech Kallyope launches with $44M". Fierce Biotech. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  25. "Women in STEM honored at LSC annual luncheon". LSC News. Liberty Science Center. 11 December 2013.
  26. "Industry Researchers Honored with Coveted Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award". HealthCare Institute of New Jersey. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  27. "New Heroes of Chemistry invented medicines that help millions of people". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
  28. "Heroes of Chemistry Award". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  29. Ainsworth, Susan J. (11 October 2010). "ACS Honors Heroes Of Chemistry 2010". Chemical & Engineering News. 88 (41): 43. doi:10.1021/cen-v088n041.p043. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  30. Prohaska, Stacey (2012). "Victory at Last: The Muhlenberg Grad Behind an Important Diabetes Treatment" (PDF). Muhlenberg, The Magazine. No. Winter. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  31. "Discovery of the Decade" (PDF). The Prix Galien USA Awards. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
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