Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (APS) celebrates the 80-year anniversary of the establishment of SIMM by publishing this special issue to commemorate this event. APS, the official journal of the Chinese Pharmacological Society, has been published in association with SIMM since its launch in 1980. The founding editor-in-chief, Prof Guang-sheng DING, and many prominent SIMM scientists have served on the APS editorial board in the past. With consistent support from SIMM, APS has grown to be China's leading international journal in the fields of pharmacology and pharmacy, publishing high quality papers from all over the world. To commemorate the 80th anniversary of SIMM, APS has organized this special issue including perspective, review and original articles contributed by principle investigators from SIMM in various disciplines1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. These articles highlight some of the research achievements accomplished at SIMM and provide an insight into the progress of drug research in China.
SIMM, established in 1932, is a comprehensive institute engaged in fundamental and applied research in drug discovery and development. Throughout its 80-year history, SIMM has trained many outstanding pharmaceutical scientists and technologists who have developed a number of new drugs that have made their mark in the international arena, such as artemisinin (anti-malarial), sodium dimercaptosuccinate (antidote against heavy metal poisonings), sobuzoxan (anti-tumor) and huperzine A (to treat Alzheimer's disease), to name a few. Since the implementation of the “Knowledge Innovation Program” at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a series of major achievements have transpired in drug discovery: Antofloxacin hydrochloride is the first patented quinolone-class antibiotic agent discovered at SIMM following a relentless pursuit that lasted more than 10 years; and depsides salt from Salvia miltiorrhiza has emerged in prominence with the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine.
We remain confident that the achievements made by SIMM scientists during the past 80 years have laid a solid foundation to advance the drug discovery capabilities in China and that newly developed drugs will continue to be introduced to the international market in growing numbers. In tandem, APS will uphold its objective to publish excellent research being performed by both domestic groups and those abroad. Given the development of drug research in China and improved international cooperation, we believe that APS will remain as a platform for publishing high quality papers of key significance in the multidisciplinary field of pharmacology and related life sciences.
I hope this issue will appeal to the broad readership with an interest in the drug discovery and development efforts being performed in China. Join us in celebrating the 80th anniversary of SIMM and enjoy the articles in this special issue.
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Ding, J. Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SIMM). Acta Pharmacol Sin 33, 1101–1102 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/aps.2012.131
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/aps.2012.131
