Donald McDonnell, PhD, Glaxo-Wellcome Distinguished Professor of Molecular Cancer Biology, has been awarded the Endocrine Society’s John D. Baxter Prize for Entrepreneurship for his involvement in discovering and developing hormone therapies for treating breast and prostate cancer.
The $50,000 prize is awarded biennially to recognize scientists or health care practitioners who have demonstrated entrepreneurship by leveraging endocrine research to improve patient care.
McDonnell developed a mechanism-based drug discovery platform that he used to identify bazedoxifene, lasofoxifene, etacstil and elacestrant as treatments for metastatic breast cancer. Elacestrant received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2023, and lasofoxifene is in phase III clinical trials.
His work has also led to the discovery of novel treatments for prostate cancer, and a start-up company that he cofounded, Adara Therapeutics, is currently developing these drugs.
He will receive the prize at the society's annual meeting, ENDO 2025, which will take place July 12-15, in San Francisco, California.
The Baxter Prize was established to recognize the extraordinary achievement of bringing an idea, product, service, or process to market.
The prize was established in memory of Endocrine Society Past President John D. Baxter, MD, who was a world-renowned scientist known for being the first to clone the human growth hormone gene. During his career, he made many fundamental medical discoveries and translated them into clinical therapies that had far-reaching implications in the fields of biotechnology and genetic engineering, benefiting the health and welfare of patients worldwide.
"I’m honored to be the recipient of the Society’s 2025 Baxter Award and look forward to celebrating with all of my colleagues at ENDO 2025. I knew John Baxter very well, and he and I had the same love of translational research,” McDonnell said. “I plan to leverage this prize to continue my work in the field to find better treatments for endocrine cancers.”
Read more about McDonnell’s honor.