Chemist with a medical vision: Ivars Kalvins named finalist for 2015 European Inventor Award

• Nomination recognises one of the world's leading scientists in medical biochemistry
• Latvian inventor develops new generation of drugs mimicking natural compounds for targeted treatment and prevention of heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's and cancer
• Meldonium provides the basis for one of Latvia's most successful drugs (Mildronate)
• EPO President Battistelli: "Kalvins is one of Europe's premier inventors; his outstanding research has brought significant advances in human medicine."

Munich/Riga, 21 April 2015 - With nearly 260 inventions and over 900 patents and patent applications, Ivars Kalvins is one of the world's most prolific scientists and inventors in the field of medical biochemistry. Kalvins' work focusses on small organic molecules which regulate energy production pathways in the human body. Convinced that these molecules could also play a key role in the prevention and cure of illnesses, the 67-year-old Latvian has developed a new generation of drugs that mimic natural organic compounds for the treatment of heart disease, stroke, tinnitus, Alzheimer's disease, as well as inflammation and chronic pain. They have even proved to be successful in the fight against cancer. For his work, the European Patent Office (EPO) has named Kalvins as one of three finalists for the 2015 European Inventor Award in the "Lifetime Achievement" category. The 10th edition of the annual innovation award will be presented at a ceremony on 11 June in Paris.

"The outstanding work of Ivars Kalvins has brought significant advances for human medicine by enabling the treatment of serious illnesses with drugs that mimic natural compounds," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli, announcing the finalists for this year's award. "Kalvins is not only one of the most renowned inventors in the Baltic region, but his inventive talent is also a brilliant example of Europe's innovative strength in biomedicine."

Natural compounds replace artificially synthesised chemicals

Kalvins, who has a PhD in chemistry, has for over 40 years studied how illnesses can be effectively treated by mimicking natural chemical compounds. The researcher laid the cornerstone for his inventions when he synthesised the organic compounds that restore metabolic equilibrium. He accomplished this by investigating the biochemical reactions and native compounds involved in various health problems and how, in a modified form, they can help treat these issues. Whereas other researchers often synthesised thousands of compounds, Kalvins' approach, which is to start with an analysis to determine which compounds may be suitable for treatment in a modified form before moving on to molecule synthesis, reduces the number of compounds from the very start, thus saving valuable time.

Invention enables targeted prevention of heart disease

Thanks to his successful approach, after just six months of trials in 1976, the ardent saxophonist discovered that the compound meldonium could switch off the problems observed in cellular metabolism with heart disease. The critical breakthrough came when Kalvins found that a targeted application of meldonium as a medicine could alter cellular energy production to require less oxygen. This left more oxygen for the heart muscle, which in turn helped restore cellular energy metabolism in heart disease patients. Continued damage to heart tissue, which in the worst case could lead to a heart attack, can thus be avoided. To date this invention has helped millions of people prevent and treat heart disease and strokes - currently the most frequent causes of death according to the World Health Organization.

Kalvins paves the way for a new generation of drugs

The success of meldonium, produced and distributed as Mildronate by the Latvian pharmaceutical company Grindeks, was crucial to the development of a new generation of drugs that imitate natural compounds by Kalvins and his team at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis. Kalvins is still passionate about advancing knowledge in this area. His motivation also has a personal side: when his first wife was diagnosed with cancer, he developed a drug for her treatment, the immunostimulator Leakadin, named after her, which helped her live for a further 18 years.

In addition to Leakadin, the anti-cancer drug Belinostat is another one of Kalvins' major inventions. Further cutting-edge compounds developed by Kalvins and his team in collaboration with scientists from the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Germany include the neuroprotectant Neramexane, the anti-inflammatory OX-MPI, and the next generation of the cardioprotector Mildronate, which remains one of Latvia's most successful medical exports. In 2013, export turnover for the drug totalled EUR 60 to EUR 70 million, or roughly 0.7 per cent of all Latvian exports. Grindeks now employs around 1 000 people and in 2013 reported revenues of EUR 118.5 million - the lion's share from sales of Mildronate.  According to data from Transparency Market Research, the market for drugs like Mildronate administered to treat heart disease will increase by 3.5 per cent annually, reaching
EUR 10.3 billion by 2018.

Kalvins expands Department of Medicinal Chemistry to international think tank

Kalvins still goes into the lab every day to work on new ideas with his team. Thanks to his persistence, he is not only the inventor of seven original medicinal preparations, but he has also successfully expanded the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, of which he has been head since 1986, into a think tank for pharmaceutical research with global ties: The fact that patented inventions based on compounds synthesised in Kalvins' laboratory have been brought to market by a variety of international pharmaceutical companies such as Prolifix (TopoTarget), Biolipox (Orexo), Merz Pharma, and Grindeks underlines the reputation of the research institute.

Additional resources

• Read more about the inventor
• View the patents: EP1328510, EP1009732, EP1778632
• Ten years of the European Inventor Award: a retrospective look at the inventors and ideas that have changed our lives
• About the European Patent Office (EPO)
• Study on the economic impact of patents and other IP rights

Contacts:

Rainer Osterwalder
Director Media Relations
European Patent Office
Tel. +49 (0)89 2399 1820
rosterwalder@epo.org

Jeremy Philpott
Project Manager
European Patent Office
Tel. +49 (0)89 2399 1805
jphilpott@epo.org

Bernd Münchinger
Managing Director
echolot public relations
Tel. +49 (0)71 1990 1480
muenchinger@echolot-pr.de