Jerome Horwitz, 1919–2012

Jerome Horwitz created AZT in 1964 as a potential cure for cancer, but when the drug did not have the desired effects, he shelved it in disappointment. Only 22 years later did the drug reach its full potential, as the first effective treatment for AIDS.

While a chemistry professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Horwitz synthesized azidothymidine, or AZT, said Scientific American. His theory was that, if you can’t directly target cancer, “you can modify what the cancer needs: the cell.” AZT would stop the reproduction of DNA in host cells, he postulated, which would block the growth of tumors. But the compound failed in testing, so Horwitz “moved on”—without patenting it.

In 1974, a German scientist found AZT to be effective in fighting a mouse retrovirus. A decade later, when a similar retrovirus was identified as the cause of AIDS, said The Washington Post, Horwitz’s “semi-forgotten AZT compound” was re-examined. The FDA approved its use on humans in 1987, despite its severe side effects, and AZT “attracted controversy” as the most expensive drug in history, at $8,000 per year. Even so, Horwitz’s compound helped inspire others to create less toxic anti-retrovirals and undoubtedly saved thousands of lives.

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But Horwitz “did not earn a penny” from his discovery, said The New York Times. Instead, pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome reaped billions of dollars from AZT. Horwitz said he was not bitter about his lack of compensation. “He never did it for the money,” said his widow, Sharon. “He went into science because he wanted to make a difference.”