MANUEL ELKIN PATARROYO MURILLO

Colombian Physician and Immunologist He is known worldwide for being responsible

for the development of a synthetic vaccine against malaria

He is the founder and current Director of the Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de

Colombia associated with the National University of Colombia in Bogotá, professor

and director of the line of research in Structure-Function Relationship in the Search

for Synthetic Vaccines in the doctorate in biomedical sciences of the Universidad del

Rosario and Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization, for the

development of synthetic vaccines against Malaria, Tuberculosis and Leprosy.

Dr. Patarroyo, in an act of generosity, rejected offers from a pharmaceutical

company to sell the patent for 74 million dollars. Instead, Patarroyo donated it in May

1993 to the World Health Organization (WHO), on the condition that its production

and marketing be made in Colombia, which implied the assembly of a modern plant

destined to produce the industrially vaccinated. This altruistic action has won him

numerous international awards, including the 2009 Coexistence Award from Spain,

and more recently the 2009 Sabino Arana Award.

Currently, Manuel Elkin Patarroyo continues to work at the Fundación Instituto de

Inmunología de Colombia, where he directs different research projects such as the

diagnosis of cervical cancer, a disease that annually causes the death of 2,500

women in Colombia.