Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award

By showing that the coagulation cascade could be activated in the absence of factor VIII, Kunihiro Hattori, Tomoyuki Igawa, and Takehisa Kidezawa of Chugai Pharmaceutical overcame these limitations.

They developed emicizumab, a bispecific antibody that mimics blood coagulation factor VIII, an achievement recognized by the 2026 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

Because emicizumab shares no structural homologic features with factor VIII, it is not recognized by factor VIII inhibitors, thereby overcoming one of the greatest limitations of replacement therapy.

Its antibody-based structure also confers a long half-life, which enables effective prophylaxis with infrequent subcutaneous administration, including in patients with inhibitors.

This therapy has transformed the lives of patients worldwide.

The 2026 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award recognized not only the success of emicizumab, but also the principle that biologic functions can be rationally engineered into therapeutic solutions.

conducting research with involuntarily hospitalized patients, ethical, legal, and regulatory considerations.

A Medicine and Society article by Benjamin Silverman from Mass General Brigham, Boston, and co-authors.