Synthetic Organic and Life Sciences Pharmaceutical Chemistry Consultant

Technical Consultant #2359

Synthetic and discovery organic chemistry for the pharmaceutical industries with applications in CNS, cancer, and pain.
Preclinical development chemistry for pharmaceutical scale-up, metabolites, impurities, and deuterated drug candidates.
Synthetic organic chemistry for in-vitro and in vivo diagnostics, including antigens and biotin conjugates with varied regiochemistry, macrocyclic ligands, nucleotide analogs, and polycyclic heterocycles. Two resulting in-vitro diagnostic products were launched in 2017.
Grant writing for drug discovery and medicinal chemistry from government, private non-profit and private for-profit sources.
Design of patentable alternatives to existing molecules (drug candidates and in vitro diagnostic reagents).
Design of patentable alternatives to existing synthetic procedures for drug candidates and nutritional supplements.
Design and synthesis of synthons and fragments with rare substructures to facilitate discovery chemistry.

Undisclosed Company, Founder, President, and CEO, 2004 - Present

Designed patentable alternatives to expensive fluorescent probes and successfully managed a 14 step synthetic method. Multiple redesigns were required to reach the goal in this very challenging project.
Developed 4 synthetic methods for small molecule linker conjugates (total of 15 steps) for antibody production and synthesis for in vitro diagnostics. One in vitro diagnostic product was launched in early 2017.
Determined the structure of an unusual drug metabolite through synthesis of deuterated drug analogs for in vitro metabolic studies to better understand the mechanism of drug metabolism, interpretation of LCMS, chemical derivatization data, and synthesis of plausible candidates for the metabolite.
Optimized the purity in scale-up synthesis of a small molecule for pain treatment candidate which has shown highly significant activity in one clinical trials and has been awarded fast track designation in a second trial.
Completed and developed synthetic methods for drug impurities to support stability studies for this candidate.
Redesigned the synthesis of an antigen-linker suitable for research, development and manufacturing. This in vitro diagnostic product was launched in 2017.

Cengent Therapeutics, San Diego, CA, Head of Combinatorial Chemistry, 1998 - 2005

Established combinatorial chemistry and single molecule synthetic chemistry program.
Targets: IKK, PTP1B, Anthrax Lethal Factor, and TNF.

Galderma Research, Inc., La Jolla, CA, Chemistry Coordinator, 1995 - 1998

Dermatological drug discovery, including retinoids and other nuclear receptor ligands.
Establishment of combinatorial chemistry and chemoinformatics programs. (Joint appointment with Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center).

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Associate Faculty Member, San Diego, CA, 1994 - 1996

AntiCancer, Inc., Director of Chemistry, San Diego, CA, 1994

Research primarily focused on development of strategies to decrease immunogenicity of a therapeutic enzyme, and development of strategies for liposomal drug delivery.

Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA, 1985 - 1994

Associate Member, Department of Molecular Biology

Research objectives: rational chemotherapeutic drug design, self-assembling drugs target-selective synergism. Emphasis on drug biodistribution and synergism.

Credentials

Languages

Academic and Professional Affiliations

Awards-Grants

SBIR Phase I and II; 'Non-peptide Inhibitors-Anthrax Lethal Factor'
NIH, 'Self-Assembling Antiretroviral Agents,' preclinical development, suramin analogs for the treatment of AIDS.
AmFAR;'Bipartite HIV Protease Inhibitors'
Shannon Award (NIH); 'Self-Assembly-Antiretroviral Agents'
NIH 'Antitumor Specificity Amplification'

Publications and Patents