Oregon Public Broadcasting

An Oregon Health and Science University doctor has won a share of the nation’s most prestigious medical research award for his role in developing a landmark cancer drug. Rob Manning reports.

Dr. Brian Druker won the Lasker–DeBakey Award for Clinical Medical Research for the gene therapy techniques that launched the leukemia drug, Gleevec.

Dr. Brian Druker

He shares the Lasker Award's $250,000 with two other doctors, including one who worked for the drug company, Novartis.

Druker acknowledged his patients.

Brian Druker: “It’s about affecting the lives of people who live here and throughout the world with more effective, less toxic therapies. That’s what this award is about. It’s about helping patients. It’s about giving hope to patients who didn’t have hope.”

Gleevec essentially turns off the cancer-causing protein in a cancer cell.

Druker says the discovery has extended the lives of tens of thousands of people.

He says it took two years to convince Novartis to do clinical trials. But he says the company moved fast, once the trials showed results.

Gleevec is approved for seven cancer types, though Druker says the drug may prove effective with still more cancers.