Sir David Jack CBE FRS FRSE in interview with Dr Max Blythe: Interview 2

In this second in a series of three interviews, Sir David Jack talks of the period from 1961 to 1973 when he was research director of Allen & Hanburys Ltd, Ware, a division of Glaxo. He discusses the discovery of salbutamol, a bronchodilator with selective ß-adrenergic activity used to treat asthma. Salbutamol, which was marketed as Ventolin, was the second major drug for Glaxo, the first being betamethasone valerate (Betnovate), a topical anti-inflammatory steroid. Sir David talks of how the income from salbutamol enabled research to be expanded at Ware, and he refers to 1972 as the annus mirabilis for Glaxo, when a second major asthma drug, beclomethasone dipropionate (Becotide), an inhaled steroid, went on the market. 1972 was also the year in which work began on ranitidine (Zantac) for the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers, and the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) programme was started. During his time as research director of the highly successful Ware group, several major drugs were developed, and in the interview Sir David comments on the remarkably short development times for the group's products. In the following section of the interview, there is discussion of how the combination of a bronchodilator (Ventolin) and inhaled steroid (Becotide), pioneered by the Ware group, changed the treatment of asthma, and Sir David acknowledges Wilfred Simpson, the medical director of Allen and Hanburys, as the person who proposed the use of inhaled steroid. The interview then moves to an account of the discovery of ranitidine following an investigation of histamine blockers, an opportunistic line of research suggested to Sir David after attending a lecture by the pharmacologist, James Black (later Sir James), who proved that histamine is a physiological mediator of acid secretion. (Ranitidine became the world's largest selling pharmaceutical product.) There is a final reflection on recent mergers of pharmaceutical companies in the UK