Frederic de Sauvage

Frederic de Sauvage led the development of vismodegib (GDC-0449/Erivedge) at Genentech, the first FDA-approved Hedgehog pathway inhibitor for advanced basal cell carcinoma, translating decades of Hedgehog biology research into a breakthrough cancer therapy. His laboratory demonstrated that oral Smoothened inhibition achieves dramatic tumor regression in BCC patients with constitutively active Hedgehog signaling. He characterized resistance mechanisms to vismodegib including SMO D473H mutations and identified potential combination strategies. His work on Hedgehog pathway inhibition as cancer therapy represents one of the most successful examples of developmental biology-to-drug translation.