Another ChemE has departed the Earth.  OK.  John Martin did obtain his BS ChemE from Purdue, but he eventually became a PhD Organic Chemist (U Chicago), with a side degree as an MBA from Golden Gate University.

His death was the end result of a fall.  Yes, he tripped while walking the sidewalk in Palo Alto, CA.  (Maybe now’s the time we all should be studying up on how we keep our balance as we age!)

John;s first job was at another company we’ve discussed (he was working for Carl Djerrasi, ex CEO) – Syntex.  His tenure there was from 1978 to 1984.

From there, he moved to direct the antiviral chemistry program at Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he stayed until 1990.  Then, on to Gilead as Director of Research.

Dr. Martin’s claim to fame, however,  was his efforts as CEO of Gilead Sciences from 1996 to 2016.  He became CEO after his 6 year stint as their Director of Research.

During his tenure, Gilead mushroomed from a firm of 35 to one with 13,600 employees and $ 100 billion in revenue.  (Not too shabby  growth.)  He had reprogrammed the firm to devote its efforts towards antiviral drugs and therapies.  (Note- a good portion of this growth involved a takeover of Pharmasset, an $ 11 billion antiviral drug developer, in 2012.)

Martin’s first creation at Gilead was Tamiflu- the first anti-influenza pill.   (This was licensed to Hoffman-La Roche in 1996.)  Then, Sovaldi- the first cure for 90% of those with Hepatitis C.

Not too much later, Dr. Martin led Gilead’s development of Truvada- one of the first treatments (2004) capable of treating HIV patients to prevent them from infecting others.  (But, he didn’t stop there- he combined Truvada with Sustiva [a Bristol-Myers Squibb drug]- and another Gilead Sciences drug to produce Atripla (three drugs in a single formulation).  This combination replaced the 32 drug regimen many HIV patients followed- making it simpler and more likely for those with AIDS to finally treat their HIV effectively.

Under his leadership,  Gilead then developed remdesivir (which was hoped to treat hepatitis C and a few other viral diseases- but it didn’t)- but it is effective against COVID-19.

Now, there was plenty of controversy involved with Dr. Martin and Gilead.  Starting with their drug pricing-$ 1000 per month for Sustiva and $ 1000 for each hepatitis pill.  (OK.  $ 1000 a pill doesn’t quite tell the whole story- the treatment to eradicate Hepatitis C ran some $ 84,000- a total of 84 pills.)

Dr. Martin was unabashed at the controversy over the prices- he was positive these prices were the only way Gilead  can keep developing high tech medical products.

Dr. Martin had also created a foundation (John C. Martin Foundation) whose goal is to improve health care for medically underserved populations. It’s work will continue under the direction of his long-time partner, Lillian Lien-Li Lou.