[1] In 2009, he was awarded the Lasker Clinical Award and in 2012 the Japan Prize for the development of Gleevec, also known as Imatinib, a selective BCR-ABL inhibitor for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), which converted a fatal cancer into a manageable chronic condition.

[8][9] In 1982, Lydon accepted a position with Schering-Plough based in France as Chargé de Récherche.

Lydon's nomination for the Royal Society reads: Nick Lydon played a decisive role in the development of Gleevec (Imatinib), a drug that has saved the lives of thousands of patients with chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST).

The remarkable efficacy of Gleevec profoundly changed the perception of protein kinases as therapeutic targets.

The international prizes that Nick Lydon has received include, most recently, the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award from The Lasker Foundation.