Hubert J. P. Schoemaker 1951-2006
Hubert J. P. Schoemaker (1950–2006) was a Dutch-born American biochemist and biotechnology entrepreneur who co-founded Centocor, one of the pioneering biotechnology companies in the United States. He later founded Neuronyx and helped develop the drug Remicade for autoimmune diseases.
- Hubert J. P. Schoemaker
Hubert J. P. Schoemaker – Wikipedia
Inventor/Developer
Schoemaker was one of the three co-founders of Centocor Inc., one of the first successful biotechnology companies, and was located in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area. Centocor was also one of the biotechnology industry’s great successes. Following the aquisition of Centocor by Johnson and Johnson for $4.9 billion in 1999, Schoemaker founded Neuronyx, Inc., a development-stage biopharmaceutical company. As chairman at Centocor, Schoemaker was responsible for identifying, developing and commercializing diagnostic and therapeutic products. In addition he also was heavily involved in providing oversight and direction on many technical issues. Schoemaker’s strong business skills enabled him to guide Centocor from a small business startup to a profitable and publicly traded company. Schoemaker was also personally involved with the development of Remicade, a drug to treat auto-immune disorders such as Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritus.
Schoemaker was born in Deventer, in the eastern part of the Netherlands on March 23, 1950. He was the son of Paul and Betty Schoemaker, of Deventer, the Netherlands. He moved to the United States to complete his education. He attended Notre Dame University and graduated with a B.S. degree in chemistry. He then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to do graduate work and graduated with a Ph. D. in biochemistry from there.
In June 2005, Schoemaker was recognized by the Pennsylvania biotechnology industry, named Pennsylvany BIO, and the international biotechnology organization BIO, with its first ever life time achievement award. From that point on Pennsylvania BIO also renamed its annual leadership award the “Hubert J. P. Schoemaker Leadership Award”. In addition, during his career, Schoemaker received many other awards for his business leadership and his leadership in the biotechnology industry. Schoemaker also made over 100 presentations to biotechnology industry gatherings, and contributed to more than 20 technical papers.
Schoemaker was first diagnosed with cancer in 1994. Since that time he has had surgery, bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy. The various treatments were able to keep him alive and mentally alert, but eventually death claimed its victim.
At the time of his death, on January 1, 2006, Schoemaker was married to Anne Faulkner Schoemaker. He is also survived by his former wife, Ann Mckenzie. He is the father of three daughters, Maureen Schoemaker, Katherine Schoemaker, and Anne Schoemaker, one son, Matthew Schoemaker, and one stepson, Jonathan Saruk. A memorial service was held for him in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 6, 2006.
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