Nicholas B. Lydon FRS (born 27 February 1957) is a British scientist and entrepreneur.[1] In 2009, he was awarded the Lasker Clinical Award and in 2012 the Japan Prize for the development of Gleevec, also known as Imatinib, a selective BCR-ABL inhibitor for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), which converted a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition.[2][3][4][5][6]
In 1982, Lydon accepted a position with Schering-Plough based in France as Chargé de Récherche.[3] Three years later, he moved to Switzerland to work with Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals, with whom he developed Gleevec.[7] In 1997, he established Kinetex Pharmaceuticals in Boston which was acquired by Amgen in 2000, with whom he worked until 2002.[7] Thereafter, he established several companies that continue to develop drugs to treat various conditions.[7]
Lydon's nomination for the Royal Society reads:
