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Earle B. Barnes Award For Leadership In Chemical Research Management

Sponsored by Dow Chemical

by Melody Voith
January 11, 2010 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 88, Issue 2

LaMattina
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Credit: Courtesy of John L. LaMattina
Credit: Courtesy of John L. LaMattina

When John L. LaMattina was 10 years old, his aunt and grandfather gave him a homemade chemistry set. His aunt, who had earned a master’s degree from the City University of New York, Hunter College, supplied the chemicals, reactants, and a list of experiments. His grandfather built a case so LaMattina could take the set to his friends’ houses.

The gift inspired a curiosity about chemistry that has driven LaMattina for his entire career. As an undergrad at Boston College, he “really loved organic chemistry,” LaMattina says. “I loved the idea of making molecules. I came from a lower middle-class family in Brooklyn in the ’60s. I wanted to make useful molecules for medicine,” he adds.

After graduating with a B.S. degree in chemistry in 1971, LaMattina went on to study organic chemistry at the University of New Hampshire. He worked with Robert Lyle, a chemist who specialized in heterocyclics, to get a Ph.D. Lyle gave LaMattina freedom to follow an unusual chemical reaction and then let him build his thesis on his findings. In 1975, LaMattina went on to do postdoctoral research with Edward C. Taylor at Princeton University, one of the world’s premier chemists working with heterocyclics (see page 44).

In 1977, when LaMattina finished his postdoctoral research, he was happy to get a job with Pfizer in the coastal town of Grot­on, Conn. As a medicinal chemist in the gastrointestinal group there, he contributed to discoveries leading to ulcer treatments, such as the discovery of proton-pump inhibitors and H2 antagonists.

Pfizer’s upper management quickly realized that LaMattina had a knack for leading scientists. In 1987, he was named director of medicinal chemistry at the Groton site. From 1993 to 1999, he assumed leadership, first of U.S., and then of worldwide discovery operations at Pfizer. Under LaMattina’s leadership, the company grew into a number of new therapeutic areas. He is most pleased with the expansion of Pfizer’s oncology research, which resulted in a robust cancer drug pipeline.

LaMattina says he sees the role of research leader “as coaching, not hovering. You hire good people, give them some initial direction, and then let them go.”

In 2003, he was named president of Pfizer Global Research & Development. The organization grew to the largest R&D enterprise in the industry. New molecular entities in Pfizer’s portfolio grew from 145 in 2005 to 177 in 2007.

LaMattina, 59, recently retired from Pfizer. Rod MacKenzie, a Pfizer colleague and the current head of worldwide research in the pharmatherapeutics division, says LaMattina’s legacy of growth includes new and expanded R&D in oncology, large molecules, and vaccines, as well as partnerships with organizations such as Scripps Research Institute.

Another growth area for Pfizer has been in its workforce diversity. LaMattina remembers that in the 1980s, the firm had no female Ph.D. organic chemists. He championed a new approach to hiring, and by the end of his tenure, 30–40% of new scientists were female. “Having a diverse environment makes everyone feel welcome, contribute, and give everything they have to offer,” he says.

LaMattina will present the award address before the Division of Medicinal Chemistry.

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