Harkishan Singh (25 November 1928 â 20 March 2020) was an Indian pharmaceutical chemist and professor at Panjab University known for his research and teaching in India, United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and China. Singh specialized in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and the study of natural products, making contributions to each field. During his career, he led the research group responsible for developing candocuronium iodide (also known as chandonium iodide, HS-310), a clinically useful synthetic azasteroid designed as a skeletal muscle relaxant.
The research group led by Singh at Panjab University, Chandigarh, designed and synthesized candocuronium iodide, initially called chandonium iodide. Pharmacological testing was conducted at the University of Strathclyde.
Toxicity studies conducted at the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, did not reveal any adverse effects. Furthermore, clinical studies for the new compound were also completed at the CDRI. Additionally, the proceedings of the symposium on the clinical testing of candocuronium iodide were published in the Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology, 10, 109âÂÂ151 (1994).
As a result of these comprehensive studies, the drug, a non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocker with a short duration of action, was approved by the Indian Ministry of Health for manufacturing and clinical use. The World Health Organization assigned the drug the International Nonproprietary Name (INN): candocuronium iodide.
Singh lectured on his research at several institutions and conferences in India, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and China. He delivered lectures at the Harvard School of Medicine and at the International Symposium on Molecular Structure, sponsored by the International Union of Crystallography in Beijing.
Singh was also a science historian, and he examined the history of pharmaceutical developments in India in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The topics of his history research included pharmacopoeias and formularies, pharmaceutical education, pharmacy practice, biographies of pharmaceutical luminaries, and pharmaceutical journalism. He published more than fifty articles.
In addition to his scientific and historical research papers, Singh authored or co-authored eighteen books and nearly two dozen review articles, including several book chapters. He wrote extensively on educational, scientific, historical, and professional issues. He published more than 300 works. Singh supervised nearly 50 masters and doctoral theses, supporting the growth of many pharmaceutical scientists. He also published 125 original scientific research papers, and had 14 patents granted.
Professor Singh served on several academic, scientific, professional and governmental bodies. This included the Committee of Education in Medicinal Chemistry of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), which prepared the Report on the International Education of Medicinal Chemists (IUPAC Technical Reports Number 13; 1974).
His affiliations with several scientific and professional organizations included emeritus membership of the American Chemical Society, life memberships of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association and Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India, and memberships of the American Institute of History of Pharmacy and British Society for History of Pharmacy.
Singh was inducted into the International Society for the History of Pharmacy.