Warren Zapol, chief of anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Claes Frostell, head of anesthesia and intensive care at Danderyd Hospital of the Karolinska Institute, were honored as 2003 Inventors of the Year on Wednesday by the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO).

Zapol and Frostell received the award at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Wednesday for their system that safely delivers inhaled nitric oxide (NO) gas for the treatment of lung conditions such as pulmonary hypertension. NO was considered to be merely a dangerous pollutant until the mid 1980s when researchers discovered its role as a messenger molecule in vasodilation, useful in reducing blood pressure. While NO administered intravenously was found to reduce blood pressure throughout the body, when inhaled the effect could be restricted to the lungs.

Zapol and Frostell began working on a system in which NO is mixed first with nitrogen to prevent oxidation, then with oxygen immediately before inhalation to keep it fresh before the gas is inhaled in small doses.

The system's first clinical application was in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension of a newborn in 1990. "We had a blue baby [who was oxygen-deprived] and the doctors were ready to cut down on its groin and neck and insert catheters," Zapol told The Scientist. "I asked to try the NO gas and within minutes you could see the baby turn pink, the oximeter go up, and we knew we had something." Zapol said that about 6000 children per year now use the FDA-approved system.

This year marked the seventh consecutive IPO award for life scientists. While earlier winners had represented fields as diverse as acoustics and human aviation, Herbert Wamsley, IPO's executive director, told The Scientist that significant innovations in the life sciences recently are responsible for the dynasty-like run. "[The last seven winners] are the kind of inventions that make the news, and that average people can understand and appreciate the importance of," he said.

The IPO first gave the award, which carries a $5000 purse, in 1974. Scientists are eligible if their invention was invented in the United States, is covered by a US patent, and was patented or made commercially available within the previous 3 years. Among the criteria used in judging is how the invention epitomizes the tradition of "Yankee ingenuity," but according to Wamsley, it's really a judgement call. Finalists are reviewed by the members of IPO's board, which primarily consists of chief intellectual property counselors from Fortune 500 companies such as IBM and General Electric.

Historically, winners have gone to greater success in sales than in scientific acclaim, Wamsley said. "Some of our winners have seen their products become big sellers, like [1987 winner Amar] Bose's sound technology system," Wamsley said. "Even today, they still list "Inventor of the Year" honors on their Web site."

Last year's winner, a team from Eli Lilly and Company that developed the sepsis medication Xigris, boasted $100.2 million in sales for their invention in 2002, according to Eli Lilly spokesperson Rob Smith. None of the award winners has yet gone on to win the Nobel Prize.