George H. Hitchings

George Herbert Hitchings ( born April 18, 1905 in Hoquiam, Washington, † 27 February 1998 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina) was an American biochemist. He was for a long time served as research director of the Burroughs Wellcome & Company.

In 1988 he received together with James W. Black and Gertrude Elion the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He conducted research in particular on the differences in nucleic acid metabolism of human cells, cancer cells, bacteria, viruses and protozoa. The above findings contributed significantly to improve the fight against cancer cells. As early as 1968 he had been awarded a Gairdner Foundation International Award.