John E. Macor is an American medicinal chemist known for his contributions to drug discovery in neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. He is a co-inventor of four drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): the migraine treatments eletriptan (Relpax), rimegepant (Nurtec ODT), and zavegepant (Zavzpret), and sparsentan (Filspari), a treatment for IgA nephropathy.
In 2014, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Chemical Society’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry.
Macor currently works at Babylon Biosciences, a San Francisco-based startup focused on treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
Education Macor trained as an organic chemist. Macor received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame and his Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University in 1986, where he worked under Edward C. Taylor.
Career Macor began his industrial career at Pfizer in 1986, where he was a co-inventor of eletriptan, a triptan marketed as Relpax for the acute treatment of migraine. Eletriptan was approved by the FDA in 2002.
He later joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1997, where he served as executive director of neuroscience chemistry. At Bristol-Myers Squibb, he was a co-inventor in the program that produced the CGRP receptor antagonists rimegepant and zavegepant, which were subsequently developed by Biohaven Pharmaceuticals and approved by the FDA in 2020 and 2023, respectively, for the treatment of migraine.
He is also a co-inventor of sparsentan, a dual endothelin and angiotensin II receptor antagonist developed by Travere Therapeutics and approved by the FDA in 2023 for the reduction of proteinuria in adults with IgA nephropathy.
Macor’s work at Bristol-Myers Squibb also included the company’s Alzheimer’s disease program, where he contributed to the discovery of avagacestat (BMS-708163), a γ-secretase inhibitor that advanced to Phase 2 clinical trials before development was discontinued.
Macor is an author on more than 220 peer-reviewed publications and a named inventor on 150 issued U.S. patents.
Current clinical development
Active clinical trials Compound Clinical development Afimetoran Phase 2 trials for systemic lupus erythematosus; active and not recruiting in the July 2026 sponsor record. CSTI-500 A triple monoamine reuptake inhibitor in Phase 2a trials for Prader–Willi syndrome; first participant dosed in June 2026.
Programs between clinical stages Compound Clinical development Pilavapadin Phase 3 development planned following a January 2026 end-of-Phase 2 meeting for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. SION-451 Phase 1 combination results reported in August 2026 for the cystic fibrosis program; next clinical development steps under evaluation.
Discontinued add-on program Compound Clinical development SION-719 Phase 2a trial for cystic fibrosis. In August 2026, the sponsor reported that the trial missed its key activity endpoint and that it would not advance SION-719 as an add-on to standard of care.
Honors Robert M. Scarborough Award for Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry, ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry (2009) Inducted as an American Chemical Society Fellow (2011) Alfred Burger Award in Medicinal Chemistry, American Chemical Society (2014) Inducted into the American Chemical Society Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame (2014) Edward E. Smissman Award in Medicinal Chemistry, ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry (2019) IUPAC–Richter Prize in Medicinal Chemistry (2020)
Selected publications
References