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Making Sense of Antisenseby Maureen Kovacik 
Dr. Stanley Crooke In Napoleon Hill's 1937 classic book Think and Grow Rich he wrote, "whatever the mind can conceive and believe... the mind can achieve." This is a phrase that might very well tell the tale of Dr. Stanley T. Crooke, founder, president and CEO of ISIS Pharmaceuticals. "I have never listened to people who told me that I couldn't do something," said Crooke, who received his Ph.D. in 1971 and M.D. in 1974 from Baylor College of Medicine. "One of the most satisfying things in my life is that I have remained a scientist when everyone was telling me that I couldn't work in academia and industry at the same time." Crooke's career in the pharmaceutical industry began in a roundabout way at age 11 when he worked in a drug store in his hometown of Indianapolis. At 16, he attended Butler University, and while he was there earning a pharmacy degree, the first of two events that would move his career forward took place. A lecture on cancer sparked his interest. He knew he wanted to help patients, but felt the best way to do that was at the molecular level, which led him to BCM and the lab of then-Pharmacology Chair Dr. Harris Busch. "Dr. Busch is first and foremost a scientist, and he taught me what real science is all about," Crooke said. "He was tough and taught me how to dig deeper and set the bar high for myself and for my work." Busch, a BCM professor of pharmacology, has maintained a "very warm relationship over the years" with Crooke and considers the scientist a "credit to American science." While attending medical school, Crooke saw a patient who had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was being given an experimental drug called bleomycin. "I became fascinated with the drug, so much so that I changed my research to study the drug and even contacted Bristol-Myers about working with them on the drug after graduation," Crooke said. Crooke not only worked on the drug, but he developed the anti-cancer drug discovery and development program while at the company. During his career, Crooke has supervised the development of 19 drugs currently on the market, and others currently being tested. After his stint at Bristol-Myers, Crooke moved to SmithKline Beckman Corporation where he served as president of research and development. While there, he heard about the concept of antisense. Antisense works at the genetic level to block the production of proteins that cause diseases such as cancer, and infectious, inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases. To produce proteins, the DNA strands unwind and their genetic information is passed along by a messenger RNA (mRNA). "Antisense drugs are designed to bind the mRNA, which prohibits amino acids from binding and forming disease-causing proteins," said Crooke. "Antisense drugs have the potential to be more specific than traditional drugs and therefore more effective and less toxic." Crooke formed ISIS in 1989 because he knew this type of research could only be done at a smaller company run by someone who knew about drugs and the process of drug development and discovery. The first antisense drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998, and he believes after 17 years of work on the drug, that he is at the end... of the beginning. "I run a wonderful company, but I am first and foremost a scientist," said Crooke. "I love discovery and I am always looking to the future and the next great task ahead. That's what makes life and science so enriching and exciting." |
Patient CareResearchTrekking Into New Territory: Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine Closing the Gap Between Lab and Clinic EducationTulane's Journey Back to New Orleans Community ServiceAlumni & DevelopmentCollege News
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Volume 2, Issue 2, Summer 2006 |
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