Bernard Belleau OC FRSC (March 15, 1925 – September 4, 1989) was a Canadian molecular pharmacologist best known for his role in the discovery of Lamivudine, a drug used in the treatment of HIV and Hepatitis B infection.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, he gained his BSc (1947) and MSc (1948) from the Université de Montréal and his PhD in 1950 at McGill University.
Belleau worked in the 1960s and 1970s on research programs with Bristol Laboratories, one of which led to the non-narcotic analgesic Butorphanol.
In the mid-1980s he helped found what became the biotech company BioChem Pharma with colleagues Francesco Bellini and Gervais Dionne.
Just prior to his death in 1989 he laid the foundations for Lamivudine's development, which was a significant advance in the fight against AIDS, and is credited with saving over 2 million lives.