Vane's research led drug companies to target pain by stopping the COX enzyme from producing prostaglandins.

FORBES: Dr. Feelgood

John Vane won his Nobel by discovering in 1971 that aspirin and similar drugs inhibit an enzyme that makes prostaglandins, compounds released in response to inflammation.

FORBES: Dr. Feelgood

Cox-2 inhibitors, developed with much hype in the mid-1990s, block an enzyme called cyclooxygenase-2, in so doing shutting off a wide-reaching cascade of biochemical signals that take the form of fats called prostaglandins.

FORBES: Pharma Prophet

FitzGerald, who is one of the world's best guides to the intricacies of prostaglandins, began calling for more scrutiny of Celebrex and Vioxx after doing studies on them in humans that were funded by the drugmakers themselves.

FORBES: Pharma Prophet

But the body needs those prostaglandins.

FORBES: Pharma Prophet