Biography

Dr. Ann E. Weber obtained her B.S. degree in chemistry summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and went on to obtain her Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry under Professor David A. Evans at Harvard Universtiy. Following completion of her degree in 1987, Dr. Weber joined Merck Research Laboratories in Rahway, NJ as a Senior Research Chemist. She is currently Executive Director of medicinal chemistry. Her husband is also a medicinal chemist and they spend their spare time keeping up with their 3 boys. Dr. Weber’s research interests include the design and synthesis of ligands for G-protein coupled receptors, ion channels and enzymes. She has worked in the area of obesity research where her group identified a β3-adrenergic receptor agonist that was used for key proof of concept studies in the clinic, demonstrating that stimulation of this target did not induce weight loss in humans. She went on to co lead a cross functional team of chemists and biologists that discovered JANUVIA™ (sitagliptin phosphate), which was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 2006 as a new treatment for patients with Type 2 diabetes. JANUMET™, a fixed dose combination of sitagliptin and metformin, was approve by the FDA in March 2007. Currently, efforts in her group target new treatments for patients with diabetes, obesity, pain, atherosclerosis, and urinary incontinence.

Dr. Weber is the author or co-author of over 55 publications. She is co-inventor on 23 issued US patents with 12 additional applications pending. In 2002 she was named Woman at the Forefront of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee. She received the 2007 Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and a Directors’ Award from Merck for her contributions to the discovery of JANUVIA™. She was part of a team that received the 2007 Prix Galien USA for JANUVIA™.