Psychiatrist, businessman and philanthropist

Born: February 16, 1920;

Died: July 17 2017

DR RAYMOND Sackler, who has died aged 97, was a pioneer in psychopharmacology, a medicinal products entrepreneur and a leading philanthropist who amassed a considerable fortune from the opioid painkiller OxyContin.

The company that the family owned, Purdue Pharma, produced OxyContin when he was 80. The family were rated by Forbes Magazine as amongst the wealthiest in America and many good causes in America and the UK have greatly benefited from their charitable donations. Dr Sackler and his wife Beverly became particularly well-known for their support for scientific research.

Dr Sackler’s connections with Scotland date back to his youth. In 1937 he and his brothers _ Mortimer and Arthur, both of whom qualified as doctors – were turned down by New York University medical school – only 10 per cent of Jewish students were admitted. So they sailed steerage class to Glasgow and enrolled at the Anderson College of Medicine (now part of Glasgow University) on Dumbarton Road in the west of Glasgow. The brothers later recalled: "Our digs were quite cold, because there was a shortage of coal, and we got a bit fed up with baked beans, but the Scottish people were wonderful to us.”

In 2004 Dr Sackler strongly supported his brother Mortimer in his funding of the Sackler Centre for Development Psychobiology in Edinburgh and the Sackler Institute of Psychobiological Research in Glasgow.

Raymond Raphael Sackler was born in Brooklyn, New York to Eastern European Jewish immigrants who ran a grocery store. He read science at New York University and then medicine in Glasgow – where he volunteered for the home guard and served as an aircraft-spotter. He returned to the US and qualified at the Middlesex University School of Medicine in Massachusetts.

The three brothers proved astute businessmen and by 1952 turned a small struggling New York drug manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, into a thriving business. In 1966 they bought Napp Pharmaceuticals, an under-performing British company which flourished under their shrewd management. They developed psychiatric tests and drugs as well as ointments for everyday ailments – earwax and the laxative Senacot – before carrying out major research on pain relief.

To create the opiate drug OxyContin they combined various drugs. Its great advantage was that it was released slowly into the system and thus spared terminally-ill patients the need to be hooked up to a drip.

By 2003 the sales of OxyContin hit $1.6 billion worldwide although the company faced serious lawsuits which claimed the company encouraged doctors to oversubscribe the drug. Today, Purdue Pharma is still owned by the Sackler family and in 2015 it generated over $3billion in sales in the US alone – outselling even Viagra.

In the UK Dr Sackler gave generously to many of the leading museums and art galleries – notably the British Museum, Tate Modern, the Serpentine Gallery and the V&A. He was equally supportive in his contributions to medicine, astronomy and archaeology, particularly at the University of Cambridge. At the latter he and his wife founded the medical research centre that bears their names, were sponsors of the university’s medical school and a major new cancer research programme.

Dr Sackler received many honorary degrees from numerous universities and was made an honorary KBE in 1995 for his contributions to science and the arts.

Dr Sackler devoted all his life to his business and philanthropy. Both he and his wife shunned the public limelight and were keen fans of opera and visiting galleries anonymously.

In a statement following his death, Purdue Pharma paid tribute to Dr Sackler. The statement said: "Dr Sackler’s philanthropy included the establishment and endowment of schools, institutes, centres, departments, endowed chairs, professorships, fellowships, and research awards in the biomedical and physical sciences, as well as lectureships at academic institutions around the world.

"He was an early adopter and provided major philanthropic support for Convergence Research, the increasing importance of mathematics, physics, and engineering sciences in forging deeper understanding of biology in its transformation from a largely qualitative to an increasing quantitative field. The sequencing and unravelling of the complexities of the human genome, emergence of nanotechnology and rapid advances in biological imaging are only a few examples of Convergence Research supported by Dr. Sackler’s generosity and vision."

In 1944 Dr Sackler married Beverly Feldman, whom he had known since childhood. She survives him with their two sons who have both worked in the family business.

ALASDAIR STEVEN