Dr. Dennis Liotta is very humble but don’t let that fool you – underneath the poised demeanor he’s a impassioned drug discovery giant who has made a significant contribution to improving the disease state of the world’s poor.
· Why he chose academia instead of big pharma, and then later transitioned to entrepreneurship
· What made him think he was the one that could make an important contribution? His personal inspiration.
· The story of his game-changing work with anti-HIV drug Emtriva and anti-hepatitis drug Sovaldi
· The problem of non-communicable diseases in rural Africa
· His encouragement of the life sciences community in Atlanta
· What he sees as the most rewarding endeavor he’s participated in over the course of his career
Please watch this worthwhile interview below:
About Dr. Dennis Liotta
Dr. Liotta obtained his PhD at City University of New York and completed postdoctoral research at Ohio State University before joining Emory University in 1976. Over the past three decades, Dr. Liotta’s research has focused on the discovery of novel antiviral, anticancer and anti-inflammatory therapeutic agents, most notably the breakthrough anti-HIV drug, emtricitibine, co-invented with Drs. Schinazi and Choi. Emtricitibine, currently marketed as Emtriva, is a component of a number of combination therapies used to treat HIV, including Truvada, Atripla, Complera, Stribild, Genvoya, Odefesey, Biktarvy and Descovy. Truvada is the only combination therapy approved for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Dr. Liotta also co-invented Epivir (lamivudine), a component of combination therapies such as Combivir, Trizivir, Epzicom, Triumeq, Dutrebis and Delstrigo. It is estimated that >90% of HIV infected patients in the US take or have taken drug combinations that include either Emtriva or Epivir. Dr. Liotta’s other inventions include: (i) Epivir-HBV, the first drug approved to treat hepatitis B; (ii) elvucitabine, for treating HIV (Phase 2); (iii) Q-122, for treating hot flashes in post-menopausal women and women with breast cancer (Phase 2); and (iv) CT7001, a CDK7 inhibitor for treating various cancers (successfully completed Phase 1 clinical trials). He also co-founded Pharmasset, Inc., which developed the breakthrough anti-hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), subsequently acquired by Gilead Sciences.Dr. Liotta has authored over 300 peer-reviewed research publications and holds over 100 issued US patents. He is also the director of the Emory Institute for Drug Development and co-founder of Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE), as well as the founding Editor-In-Chief of ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
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