Imatinib Metysylate - Discovered by Nicholas B. Lydon Nicholas B. Lydon a British scientist and entrepreneur developed Imatinib Metysylate in the late 1990s. It was called the “magic bullet" to cure cancer due to its ability to convert a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition by TIME magazine. Lydon and his associates were honoured with many awards for their contribution. Lydon currently leads Granite Biopharma LLC, a consulting company he formed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Imatinib Metysylate is considered as a revolutionary drug in cancer treatment because of its ability to target specific molecules inside the cancer cells rather than killing cancer cells without killing other healthy cells like chemotherapy. This led to a completely new approach in cancer treatment and there are hundreds of drugs based on this approach in development now. After completing his PhD in Biochemistry from University of Dundee in Scotland. Lydon researched interferon in various parts of Europe after which he joined Ciba-Geigy Corporation as the leader of a protein kinase inhibitor. It was during this that he met Dr. Brian Druker an oncologist expanding his expertise in tyrosine kinases. They worked together and found that in order for leukemia cells to grow they needed a specific type of protein and they synthesised a inhibitor to prevent this the inhibitor was Imatinib Metysylate.