Discoverer Of Propofol Awarded The 2018 American "Nobel" Prize In Clinical Medical Research --October 24, 2018

The Pharmaceutical Page

Milk of Amnesia

On The WHO's List of Essential Medications

Talk about coincidental. For reasons to be discussed later, I was curious about propofol. Look at this (the entire article is worth reading).

The 2018 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors John B. (Iain) Glen (retired from AstraZeneca), who discovered and developed propofol, a chemical whose rapid action and freedom from residual effects have made it the most widely used agent for induction of anesthesia in patients throughout the world. In 2016, the World Health Organization deemed propofol an “essential medicine” and at the time of that decision, more than 190 million people had received the drug.

The Lasker Foundation: link here.

The Lasker Awards have been awarded annually since 1945 to living persons who have made major contributions to medical science or who have performed public service on behalf of medicine.

They are administered by the Lasker Foundation, founded by Albert Lasker and his wife Mary Woodard Lasker (later a medical research activist).

The awards are sometimes referred to as "America's Nobels". Lasker Award has gained a reputation for identifying future winners of the Nobel Prize. Eighty-six Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize, including 32 in the last two decades.

The four main awards are: 

• Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Awar
• Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award
• Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award (Renamed in 2011 from Mary Woodard Lasker Public Service Award. Renamed in 2000 from Albert Lasker Public Service Award.) 
• Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science (1994–)

Propofol

Propofol, or "purple flow" as some call it here in north Texas. 

From wiki:

Propofol, marketed as Diprivan among other names, is a short-acting medication that results in a decreased level of consciousness and lack of memory for events.

Its uses include the starting and maintenance of general anesthesia, sedation for mechanically ventilated adults, and procedural sedation.

Intravenous.

Maximum effect takes about two minutes to occur and it typically lasts five to ten minutes.

Common side effects include an irregular heart rate, low blood pressure, burning sensation at the site of injection, and the stopping of breathing.

Propofol is not a pain medication, so opioids such as morphine may also be used.

Propofol is believed to work at least partly via a receptor for GABA.

Propofol was discovered in 1977 and approved for use in the United States in 1989.

It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system.[

It is available as a generic medication.

The wholesale price in the developing world is between 0.61 and 8.50 USD per vial.

It has been referred to as milk of amnesia (a play on milk of magnesia) because of the milk-like appearance of the intravenous preparation.

From Consumer Reports:

• risks
• costs
• note: the article is dated 2014