From Cortisone to Enlicitide: A Journey of Synthetic Chemistry Innovations at Merck

Abstract

Necessity is the mother of invention. Most synthetic chemistry innovations are driven by our desire to make molecules. In the first half of the 20th century, much of this work was inspired by natural products, but as we started to understand the impact that specific molecules could have on biology and human health, a new stimulus for invention appeared. The pharmaceutical industry first brought mass production and formulation of natural products for medicinal purposes but quickly started tinkering with molecular structure to modify compounds’ properties, eventually designing molecules from scratch. This necessity for invention of new molecules to improve human health and to manufacture them on large scale is an excellent stimulus for synthetic chemistry innovations. In this Perspective, examples from Merck’s chemistry groups are used to highlight the types of innovations that can arise from these endeavors.