Florida A&M University Professor Receives a U.S. Patent for Infection-Fighting Drug

Seth Y. Ablordeppey, a professor in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Florida A&M University, has received a U.S. patent for modifications he made to the drug Cryptolepine. Tests by Professor Ablordeppey show that the new drug will be effective in treating infections in organ transplant patients, people with HIV/AIDS, and patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Cryptolepine is a compound derived from plants native to Ghana in West Africa. “This research has been in the works for more than a decade and I am grateful to FAMU for providing the environment and opportunity for this discovery,” said Professor Ablordeppey. “With the discovery of these new agents we hope to deal one more blow to the opportunistic infections that continue to wreak havoc in our communities.”

Professor Ablordeppey is a graduate of the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana and a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi. This is Dr. Ablordeppey’s second patent. In 2010 he patented a method for treating mammals suffering from psychosis.