Kenneth Koe, American chemist, Died at 90

Billie Kenneth Koe was born on April 15, 1925, in Astoria, Ore, and died on October 7, 2015, in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. .

He was an American chemist of Chinese descent.

Koe received his master degree from the University of Washington and a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology.

His parents were Benjamin and Monta Jean Koe.

Koe also attended Reed College.

Koe and Willard Welch developed sertraline, which was branded and sold as Zoloft by his longtime employer Pfizer starting in 1991.

Kenneth had joined Pfizer’s Brooklyn laboratory in 1955, and started developing antibiotics.

Koe research focus later to the uses of serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors as well as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in psychotherapeutic drugs and began work on what would become Zoloft with Welch in the 1970s.

He spent a few years at Pfizer’s headquarters in Groton, Connecticut.

Koe retired in 1995, he lived in Ledyard.

He was honored by Reed College honored with the Howard Vollum Award, in 2008.

In 2010, the American Chemical Society gave Charles A. Harbert, Reinhard Sarges, Albert Weissman, Koe, and Welch the Award for Team Innovation.

He left behind, two daughters, Kristin M. Koe and Karen E. Koe; a sister, Virginia Wong; and five grandchildren.

Kenneth Koe passed away at 90 yrs old, on October 7, 2015.