Pharmaceutical chemistry

Gertrude B. Elion: inventions and patents

Gertrude B. Elion was a chemist who joined Burroughs Wellcome in 1944 and, with George Hitchings, developed drugs including 6-mercaptopurine, described by the National Inventors Hall of Fame as the first major medicine to fight leukemia, and 6-thioguanine. Her work also produced Imuran, used to suppress transplant rejection, allopurinol and the antiviral acyclovir. She shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment" and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.^1,2

Patents

Inventions

• 6-mercaptopurine (Purinethol). An antileukemic drug developed with George Hitchings. US 2,697,709, granted in 1954, includes a claim to 6-mercaptopurine itself.^1,4
• 6-thioguanine. A drug that the Hall of Fame says was developed from the mercaptopurine work. US 2,884,667, granted in 1959, has a single claim to 2-amino-6-mercaptopurine, which is 6-thioguanine.^1,3
• Imuran. A drug that suppresses rejection of foreign tissue, which the Hall of Fame says enabled kidney transplants from unrelated donors when used with other drugs.¹
• Acyclovir (Zovirax). An antiviral drug used against herpes, chickenpox and shingles.¹

Recognition

• 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared one third²
• 1991 Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame¹
• 1991 National Medal of Science¹
• 1997 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award¹

Sources

1. National Inventors Hall of Fame, Gertrude Belle Elion (accessed 2026-10-28)
2. Nobel Prize Outreach, Gertrude B. Elion, Facts, 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (accessed 2026-10-28)
3. Google Patents, US2884667A 2-amino-6-mercaptopurine (accessed 2026-10-28)
4. Google Patents, US2697709A Mercapto heterocycles and method of making (accessed 2026-10-28)