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The Story of Diflucan
Ken Richardson, Ph.D.
Ken Richardson's discovery of Diflucan® (fluconazole) in 1981, revolutionized the treatment of anti-fungal diseases. Vastly more effective than its predecessors, fluconazole works equally well against superficial and severe fungal infections. Unlike amphotericin B, Diflucan has minimal side effects, and can be taken orally as well as intravenously. The new drug's convenience and its once-daily dosage have also increased patient compliance and reduced the need for hospitalization.
The discovery of Diflucan came at a particularly opportune time - just when the incidence of life-threatening fungal infections was increasing exponentially. This increase resulted from the growing number of people - recipients of organ transplants, burn victims, those on chemotherapy, and AIDS patients - with the weakened immune systems that make them susceptible to deadly fungal diseases.
Ken Richardson earned his first degree in chemistry from Trent Polytechnic in 1965, and his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham three years later. In 1969, after a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard in the laboratory of Robert B. Woodward, who later won the Nobel Prize for his outstanding contributions to organic chemistry, Dr. Richardson began his career at Pfizer, first at the company's Central Research Laboratories in Groton, Connecticut, and later at Pfizer's research center in Sandwich, England.
Although Dr. Richardson's discovery was one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of anti-fungal research, those gravely ill with fungal diseases consider their own recovery of life and health the true legacy of Ken Richardson and of the Pfizer team that discovered Diflucan.
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