The 2006 Japan Prize

• Field:
  The Development of Novel Therapeutic Concepts and Technologies
• Achievement:
  The discovery of the statins and their development
• Lecture:
  THE BIRTH OF "STATINS", NATURE'S GIFT OF CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING AGENTS

Major Honors

1966	Young Investigator Award in agricultural chemistry (Japan)
1987	Heinrich Wieland Prize for the discovery of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (West Germany)
1988	Toray Science and Technology Prize (Japan)
2000	Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (Harvard Medical School, USA)

Academic Degrees

1957	B. A., Tohoku University Faculty of Agriculture, Sendai, Japan
1966	Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Tohoku University

Professional Career

1957-1966	Research Fellow, Sankyo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
1966-1968	Research Associate, Department of Molecular Biology (Prof. Dr. B.L. Horecker), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA
1968-1969	Research Fellow, Sankyo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
1969-1978	Senior Research Fellow, Sankyo, Co., Ltd.
1979-1986	Associate Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
1986-1997	Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
1997-present	Director, Biopharm Research Laboratories, Inc., Tokyo, Japan

Title

• Director, Biopharm Research Laboratories, Inc., Tokyo, Japan

Major Publications

• Endo A, Kuroda M, Tsujita Y. ML-236A, ML-236B, and ML236-C, new inhibitors of cholesterogenesis produced by Penicillium citrinum. J Antibiot 1976;29:1346-1348.
• Endo A, Kuroda M, Tanzawa K. Competitive inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-metgylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase by ML-236A and ML 236B fungal metabolites, having hypocholesterolemic activity. FEBS Lett 1976;72:323-326.
• Endo A, Tsujita T, Kuroda M, Tanzawa K. Inhibition of cholesterol synthesis in vitro and in vivo by ML-236A and ML-236B, competitive inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase. Eur J Biochem 1977;77:31-36.
• Brown MS, Faust JR, Goldstein JL, Kaneko I, Endo A. Induction of 3-hydroxy-3methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activity in human fibroblasts incubated with compactin (ML-236B), a competitive inhibitor of the reductase. J Biol Chem 1978;253:1121-1128.
• Tsujita Y, Kuroda M, Tanzawa K,Kitano N, Endo A. Hypolipidemic effects in dogs of ML-236B, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase. Atherosclerosis 1979; 32:307-313.
• Endo A, Tsujita Y, Kuroda M, Tanzawa K. Effects of ML-236B on cholesterol metabolism in mice and rats: lack of hypocholesterolemic activity in normal animals. Biochim Biophys Acta 1979; 575:266-276.
• Yamamoto A, Sudo H, Endo A. Therapeutic effects of ML 236B in primary hypercholesterolemia. Atherosclerosis 1980; 35:259-266.
• Endo A. The discovery and development of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. J Lipid Res 1992; 33:1569-1582.