RNAi Pioneer Craig Mello Named Inaugural Winner of the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

RNAi Pioneer Craig Mello Named Inaugural Winner of the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

September 12, 2006

New Award Honors Dr. Paul Janssen, One of the 20th Century's Most Innovative and Inspiring Pharmaceutical Researchers

    BEERSE, Belgium, Sept. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Johnson & Johnson today announced that Craig C. Mello,
Ph. D., a professor of Molecular Medicine at the University
of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, and an
investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has
been named the inaugural recipient of The Dr. Paul Janssen
Award for Biomedical Research. Dr. Mello was selected for
his role in the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) and
the elucidation of its biological functions. The Award will
be presented to Dr. Mello today at The Dr. Paul Janssen
Biomedical Research Scientific Symposium and Award Program
in Beerse, Belgium, which also commemorates the 80th
anniversary of Dr. Janssen's birth.

    The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research was
established by Johnson & Johnson to honor Dr. Paul
Janssen. The Award recipients are chosen by a preeminent
and independent selection committee composed of
world-leading scientists and clinicians. Intending to
acknowledge a scientist whose work has the potential to
make a significant, transformational contribution toward
the improvement of human health, the Award includes a
$100,000 prize and will be given every two years. Dr.
Janssen, who was known to his colleagues as Dr. Paul, was
one of the 20th century's most gifted and passionate
scientists. At the time of his death in 2003, Dr. Paul, who
was the founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, had contributed to
the discovery and development of more than 80 medicines that
have helped save millions of lives.  

    "I am very grateful to receive this Award, which
aims to extend the legacy of Dr. Paul Janssen, one of the
greatest scientific innovators of our time," said Dr.
Mello. "I am also very thankful to the Selection
Committee for giving me this Award and to be considered
alongside so many great scientists."

    RNA interference is a biological process where
double-stranded RNA inhibits gene expression in a highly
specific fashion. Since its discovery in 1998, RNA
interference has emerged as a powerful
"gene-silencing" technique used in laboratories
around the world to determine which genes are important in
various diseases and conditions. RNAi also has promise as
the basis of gene-silencing therapies. The new field of
RNAi-based genomics is a fundamental paradigm shift for
biomedical research and has the potential to start a
revolution in the development of modern therapeutics.

    "Johnson & Johnson is very pleased to award
The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research to Dr.
Mello," said William C. Weldon, Chairman, Board of
Directors, and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson &
Johnson. "His work and research have the potential to
help millions of people, and this epitomizes the passion,
leadership and innovation that defined Dr. Janssen."

    Among Mello's other honors, he has received the 2006
Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize; the Dr. Lewis
S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical
Science; the Gairdner Foundation International Award; the
National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology;
the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences; the Warren
Triennial Prize, Massachusetts General Hospital; and the
Massry Prize.

    "Now more than ever, scientific innovation comes
at a premium," says Sir Richard Sykes, a member of the
Award's international Selection Committee. "Discoveries
such as those by Dr. Mello have the potential to open a
treasure chest of untold medical innovations that can
ultimately help patients on a worldwide basis."  

    About The Selection Committee

    The Award's independent, international Selection
Committee included:
 
    * Dr. Arvid Carlsson (Sweden), University of
Gothenburg, Sweden, 2000 
      Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 

    * Dr. Jean Marie Lehn (France), professor, College de
France, 1987 Nobel 
      Laureate in Chemistry

    * Dr. Hartmut Michel (Germany), director, department of
Molecular Membrane 
      Biology, University of Frankfurt, 1988 Nobel Laureate
in Chemistry

    * Dr. Edward Scolnick (United States), former president
of Merck Research 
      Laboratories, Merck and Company, now director of the
Psychiatry    
      Initiative at the Broad Institute, member of the
National Academy of  
      Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and the Institute 
      of Medicine

    * Dr. Solomon Snyder (United States), distinguished
service professor of 
      neuroscience, pharmacology and psychiatry at Johns
Hopkins School of 
      Medicine, 1978 co-winner of the Albert Lasker Award,
2003 winner of the 
      National Medal of Science  

    * Sir Richard Sykes (United Kingdom), former chief
executive officer of 
      GlaxoWellcome, now Rector of Imperial College,
London, Fellow of the 
      Royal Society, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society
of Chemistry, and a 
      Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences

    "Dr. Mello is a very deserving recipient of this
auspicious award," said Dr. Snyder. "The
Committee was faced with a very difficult challenge to
select the inaugural recipient for this award. We feel that
Dr. Mello's innovative work opens up new pathways to
understanding basic biology and will have a true impact on
human health."

    For more information about the Award, please go to
http://www.pauljanssenaward.com .

    About Johnson & Johnson

    Johnson & Johnson is the world's most comprehensive
and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as
well as a provider of related services, for the consumer,
pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics
markets. The more than 230 Johnson & Johnson operating
companies employ approximately 116,000 men and women in 57
countries and sell products throughout the world.

    For more information, please contact:

     Seema Kumar
     Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research &
Development, L.L.C.
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Frederik Wittock
     Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research &
Development, L.L.C.
     Belgium
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Ernie Knewitz
     Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research &
Development, L.L.C.
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Johnson & Johnson