Merck & Co Inc is very pleased that the National Academy of Sciences has recognized Dr Arthur A Patchett with this year's Award for Chemistry in Service to Society for his innovative contributions in discoveries of breakthrough medicines to treat cardiovascular diseases.

The Award honours the pioneering work of Dr Patchett whose leadership of the medicinal chemistry team at Merck during the 1970's and 80's resulted in the discoveries of Mevacor, the first statin that lowered cholesterol levels, and of Vasotec and Prinivil, two groundbreaking medicines for treating hypertension and congestive heart failure.

Dr Patchett's pivotal work played an important role in the discovery of the statin class of cholesterol lowering agents, which also includes Zocor. In the ensuing decades, statins have come to be widely used to treat cardiovascular disease and this use today is universally recognized as having helped to save millions of lives around the world.

"I want to be among the many to congratulate art for this well-deserved recognition in what continues to be a remarkable, distinguished and productive career. The contributions and vision of great scientists like art helped to make Merck what it is today - a company where the tradition of scientific excellence continues to this day," said Dr Peter S. Kim, president, Merck Research Laboratories.

Dr Patchett retired from Merck in 2000 as vice president, Medicinal Chemistry, after 44 years with the company. He holds nearly 200 patents covering a broad range of research areas in medicinal chemistry.

Dr Patchett graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1951, was a Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge University in 1952, and received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University in 1955. He joined Merck in 1957 following two years with the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Every two years, the Academy honours a chemist who has made significant contributions to science that meet a need in society. The last Merck recipient honoured by the academy was Dr P Roy Vagelos, retired CEO and president, in 1995 for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of fatty acid biosynthesis, cholesterol metabolism, and phospholipid metabolism, and for his leadership at Merck that led to the discovery of a number of important therapeutic and preventive agents.