As founder of some of the most important life sciences companies of the twentieth century, Alejandro Zaffaroni, winner of the 2006 Biotechnology Heritage Award, has revolutionized the life sciences, in particular the fields of drug delivery and genome research.
A native of Montevideo, Uruguay, Zaffaroni received his B.Sc. from the University of Montevideo in 1941 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Rochester in 1949. In 1951 Zaffaroni joined Syntex Corporation, a small chemical company in Mexico that was prominent in steroid research. He played a key role in transforming it into a major pharmaceutical company that pioneered the development of the birth control pill. This was the beginning of his extraordinary career in scientific and business entrepreneurship. He later became president of Syntex Laboratories and president of Syntex Research Institute.
Zaffaroni invented a new technology for controlled drug delivery. In 1968, he resigned from Syntex to establish ALZA Corporation to pursue the concept of improving medical treatment through controlled drug delivery. ALZA is now the acknowledged leader worldwide in this important field. ALZA was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2001.
In 1980, Zaffaroni founded DNAX, a company that develops macromolecular products for medicine by combining the technologies of genetic engineering and immunobiology. The DNAX Research Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology was acquired by Schering-Plough in 1982, and Zaffaroni continues to serve as a member of its policy board. In addition to DNAX, Zaffaroni founded Affymax (acquired by Glaxo in the first quarter of 1995), Affymetrix, Maxygen, SurroMed, and Alexza, all companies that developed and marketed unique medical and pharmaceutical products. Zaffaroni also cofounded Symyx in 1994, the combinatorial chemistry company dedicated to the discovery of materials such as superconductors, magnets, catalysts, and polymers.
The success of the companies Zaffaroni has founded attests to the clarity of his vision and the practicality of his ideas for improving therapy. He has endeavored to provide a new dimension for individual health and the treatment of illness in the world. In all his activities, his deepest personal satisfaction has come from finding new ways to apply the findings of science to the treatment of disease and the prevention of human suffering. Among his many honors, in 1995 Zaffaroni was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Clinton in recognition of his contributions to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. This medal is the highest award that the United States bestows for individual achievement in science and technology.
