Developed skills and lines of research

Vincenzo Summa obtained his Master’s Degree in Chemistry from La Sapienza University of Rome, then his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wuppertal (Germany) under the direction of Professors Manfred Schneider and Maurizio Botta. Since 2019, Vincenzo Summa has been a full professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Naples Federico II. Prof. Summa led the chemistry team that discovered Isentress™, approved for the treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS, and Grazoprevir, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Hepatitis C. Isentress was awarded the Galien USA and Italy Prize for the best pharmaceutical agent in 2008. Prof. Summa was awarded as a Heroes of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society in 2013 for the discovery of Isentress and in 2017 for the discovery of Grazoprevir. He has also been heavily involved in a number of other antiviral drug discovery projects aimed at treating HIV infection or curing HCV. He is the author of numerous research articles and the inventor of 48 patents. For FFC Ricerca, he is working on the selective inhibition of the HDAC6 enzyme as a new strategy to combat inflammation and fibrotic remodeling in cystic fibrosis.

Projects funded by FFC Ricerca as Principal Investigator or as Research Manager

FFC#20/2020
Harnessing selective histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibition to tackle inflammation and fibrotic remodeling in cystic fibrosis