We consulted with Prof. Daniel Weihs, Provost of the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. Following long discussions with our editorial consultant, Dr. Clive Leslie Carpel, and spokesmen of Israel's institutes of higher learning we came up with a short list which included Prof. Yuval Ne'eman, the late Prof. Nathan Rosen, Prof. Dan Schechtman, Prof. Jacob Ziv and Prof.Avram Hershko. All of these exhibited brilliance in their activities. Then we came to the name of Prof. Michael Sela of the Weizmann Institute of Science and felt that he embodied all of the criteria which we had set for ourselves. In 1978 when I first met Prof. Sela he was serving as the President of the Weizmann Institute of Science. He was already then a staunch proponent of the use of scientific research toward solving the problems of the State of Israel. An excerpt from a chapter authored by him and appearing in the book: "Science Based Industries in Israel" is reproduced here.
He is the only scientist to serve as President and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Weizmann Institute. The list of international institutions which has honored him is a veritable 'who's who' and includes among others: Max-Plack Institute for Immunobiology. He has served as the President of the International Union of Immunological Sciences and since 1989 President, Scientific Council Institut Pasteur-Weizmann Institute. For more than forty years he has "probed into the realm of proteins and immunity".
In immunology the notion of specificity in immune reactions, and its good use for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes is important. "in the case of an autoimmune disease, that of multiple sclerosis, we have succeeded in developing a drug/vaccine which has now been approved by the F.D.A. in the United States, as well as in seventeen other countries. The substance named by us as Copolymer 1 can suppress the onset of the disease," explains Prof. Sela.
Copolymer 1 was developed, tested and and marketed by Israel's Teva Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Sales of Copaxone® for the first nine months of 1999 totaled $111.2 mln, compared to $58.1 mln in the first nine months of 1998, an increase of 91%.
MRI data on Copaxone® was presented in September 1999 at the Ectrims/Actrims conference in Basel, Switzerland. Study results showed that patients who had received Copaxone® for the extended 18 months period continued to benefit from the drug, as their MRI activity and burden of disease further declined. Patients who switched from placebo to Copaxone® at the 9-month point showed a significant reduction in MRI activity and stabilization in MRI burden, confirming that Copaxone® has sustained beneficial effects over time. During the conference, Copaxone® was formally launched in Switzerland.
The growing widespread use of Copaxone (Copolymer 1) is one of the greatest satisfactions in Prof. Sela's career. He spoke of that during a recent interview in his offices in the Wolfson Building at the Weizmann Institute. Prof. Sela has a delightful way of expressing his views: "I dislike the expression 'pure and applied research' because the pure implies that the other is impure and as for applied I prefer to call it applicable, because so little of what is applicable ends up being applied. In the last 30 years or so I have been involved in immuno-targetting of drugs, which is 'applicable' research. The only subject in my research that is actually 'applied' is the development of Cop 1 as a drug against multiple sclerosis".
IHTIR's Choice of the Leading Israeli Scientist of the 20th Century The Israel High-Tech Investment Report undertook a daunting task after it decided to identify the outstanding Israeli scientist of the 20th Century whose academic work, fundamental and applied research activities resulted in greatest impact on society.