Richard DiMarchi Wins Esselen Award

Richard D. Dimarchi, a professor and Gill Distinguished Chair in Biomolecular Sciences at Indiana University, Bloomington, and chairman of Ambrx Inc., is the recipient of the 20th Gustavus John Esselen Award.

The award, presented by the Northeastern Section of ACS, honors outstanding scientific achievement in scientific and technical work that has contributed to the public well-being and has communicated the positive values of the chemical profession.

Research by DiMarchi and his colleagues was central to the discovery, development, and commercialization of Eli Lilly & Co.'s recombinant human insulin, Humulin, in the early 1980s. The development overcame the need to extract the protein from beef or pork pancreas.

DiMarchi went on to lead Lilly's Pharmaceutical Delivery Systems organization and undertook the development of new delivery technologies that resulted in Lilly's global leadership in insulin therapy.

DiMarchi will be honored during a ceremony on April 6 at Harvard University. He will give the lecture "Chemical Biotechnology as a Means to Optimal Protein Therapeutics."