For original article, see: http://www.heraldgoa.in/Review/Goa-Social/Goan-chemist-part-of-team-that-discovered-new-drug-in-US/97917.html

Donald was part of the team that had achieved unprecedented success, in the discovery and development of the drug ELIQUIS® (apixaban) : a novel oral anticoagulant therapy for non valvular atrial fibrillation for stroke prevention and also for VTE (venous thromboembolism- formation of blood clots in the vein).

  Donald explained that the drug is now a leading oral anticoagulant in the world amongst cardiologists.  “We are very excited about this product and it transformational potential for patients.  Eliquis® was co-developed with Pfizer and is currently being sold by the Bristol Myers Squibb(BMS) and Pfizer alliance,” said Donald. Donald and his colleagues at BMS won the ACS heroes award for its discovery. 

 Explaining the run up that led to the discovery, Donald said it began when he was working at the DuPont Company where he developed an expertise in the areas of inflammatory diseases (arthritis) and later in cardiovascular science, looking at novel therapies directed at addressing unmet medical needs such as thrombotic disease (antithrombotics). “At the time I began my involvement in the direction of thrombosis, the science was evolving on the benefits of a potent antithrombotic agent for the prevention and treatment of stroke,” said Donald. Donald added that Eliquis’s sales for 2015 approach $2B.  

 A peer of Dr Donald, Dr Helga Do Rosario Gomes (former colleague of Donald now at Columbia University in New York) has praised his work and said ‘it's a huge achievement for someone from such a limited education system and a good role model for many in Goa who don’t have many opportunities after their Masters’. 

“He was my classmate from the time when we did our masters in the Post graduate center in Education Building (pre- Goa Univ). He has done exceedingly well for himself.  He has worked in many well known pharmaceutical companies where he has produced many patents and won awards. He was just awarded the Chemistry Hero prize along with his group for developing a blood thinner Eliquis for BMS.  I think it’s very hard to develop a drug from inception - hundreds are started but, very few make it and become such a big and popular one like this one. It’s also a very expensive proposition from inception to clinical trials, FDA approvals to marketing etc,” said Dr Helga.

  Dr. S.K.Paknikar, retired Professor of Organic Chemistry, Goa University candidly shares his association with Donald. "When I suggested to Donald to go overseas and if possible to US to do his Ph.D, my idea was to ensure he got an opportunity to work in a stimulating environment both for learning and research. We have been in touch for the past 35 years.  I have closely observed his research career with great interest and have chipped in with occasional suggestions when required. His development as an individual researcher and as a team member of BMS is a lesson to young scientists. The recent results of his research led to the development of a new drug Eliquis - which is much better than warfarin presently used for the treatment of VTE. This is the outcome of several years of research with passion, enthusiasm and a positive approach. I must say that it was my most proud moment when he informed me that his group has been announced as the "Heroes of Chemistry 2015." I salute him on this occasion."

“Setting goals and measuring accomplishments versus goals is very crucial for the growth of any individual and I am happy this culture was set in me early on in my career.  Thanks to my colleagues and fantastic collaborations we are able to achieve a lot of great results,” said Donald.  

 The drive to succeed, a positive attitude, solid work ethic and a steady determination to succeed led the Ucassaim lad to be recognized as a leader in the field of anticoagulation and has now motivated him to expand his area of expertise to include heart failure. “My success would never happen if not for the support from my family.  I have a wonderful and supportive wife Blossom and three wonderful kids Kirk, Diane and Denise. Donald is the youngest of six in the family and the rest of his siblings (Godfrey, Tony, Alba, Liz and Yvonne) have settled in Canada.  Donald’s mother Maria Francisca was from Moira and his father Caetano Saluzinho was from Benaulim. 

 In Goa, Donald briefly taught science at Holy Cross High School in Bastora his alma matter in 1978 as a substitute science teacher. He did this whilst pursuing his MSC degree. He was all around student, good at academics,  sports, and an active participant in student extracurricular activities even representing St. Xavier’s institution (Mapuca) at the Bombay University level and winning honours even as a student.

 Donald is part of a strong Goan Community in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where recently they welcomed the Arch Bishop of Goa in August 2015, and recently with the goan community in Pennsylvania celebrated St. Francis feast where they also performed the corrudinho. 

 While he has attended conferences and given presentations across the globe, he has been in India a few times and he had had the opportunity in the past to speak to students at St. Xavier’s college Mapuca and Goa University.   

Speaking about the quality of education in Goa, he feels in an age of globalization and with Universities from around the world opening centers all over the world, Goan institutions should seize on this model and reinvent themselves. 

“To do this we have to hire the best and the brightest and especially look for individuals who have a proven track record of accomplishments.  Goa needs to step out of the box and ask itself what it wants for education, how it can lure in talent and change the culture,” said Donald. 

He further exhorted students not to settle for the status quo.  “They need to demand better resources and teachers who are really good in the field and importantly can teach,” said Donald 

He recounts the lessons he learnt when he first moved to the US and how difficult it was for him to understand basic concepts initially but went on to talk about how hard work and dedication finally paid off.  

“Everyone needs to be accountable.  Hard work pays but smart work pays even more.  To succeed it is important to have a good foundation and infrastructure. Goa needs to figure out how to drastically improve its education infrastructure.  If they can do this than the possibilities are limitless,” said Donald. 

Talking about his studies in Goa that was under Bombay University then, he refers to Dr Paknikar under whose guidance he completed his MSc. 

“I respect Dr. Paknikar very much as he was not only a very good mentor but an exceptional teacher in the art of organic synthesis. It is Dr Paknikar who showed me the love of doing science and enjoying it at the same time,” said Donald.  

Donald then completed his PhD from the State University of New York and followed it with a post-doctoral stint at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, New York.  He later joined the DuPont Company (Wilmington, DE) in 1988 in the medical products division.

 “It is here that I began to hone in my skills as a medicinal chemist and devote my time to solve unmet medical needs, “said Donald.  He speaks about how DuPont experimental station was the place where many of DuPont’s innovations were discovered such as Teflon, Kevlar, Tyvek, Cozzar (1st in class AII antihypertensive agent) etc. It was also the home for Nobel Laureates. 

“So just being here in the midst of highly skilled individuals from the best of the best institutions in the country was very refreshing and rewarding.  The culture of accountability, the strive to being the best was cultivated early on in my career. This really helped me as I advanced in my medicinal chemistry career now at Bristol Myers Squibb, “said Donald. 

Donald is currently a research fellow at Bristol Myers Squibb in New Jersey, where he is spending his time coming up the next breakthrough therapies in cardiology. 

Goan Scientist Leaves Mark in Pharma World - 1

Source: The Global Goenkar May 26, 2023

Eliquis is the leading small molecule pharmaceutical in the world, but not many are aware that a multiple award-winning Goan scientist was instrumental in the discovery of apixaban, sold under the brand name Eliquis, an anticoagulant medication used to treat and prevent blood clots and to prevent stroke in people with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.

Donald Pinto, who has worked in the areas of immunology and cardiovascular diseases for over 35 years, acknowledges that his love for chemistry was inculcated during his studies in Goa, where a professor at Goa University only instilled in him the beauty of the science but made it a very interesting subject to get excited about.

EARLY LIFE

Donald Pinto was born in Nairobi-Kenya to parents who took their dreams of a better future to Kenya in the early part of the 1900s.

“In the mid-’60s, they moved back to Goa to enjoy retirement, and importantly to make sure their children had a decent education. My parents hail from Benaulim and Moira. When they moved back to Goa, we settled in Ucassaim. There were several reasons for us moving to Ucassaim, but the proximity to St Xavier’s College in Ucassaim/Bastora was more appealing to them,” recalled Pinto. 

"It was here my brothers spent their early college years and subsequently went on to pursue their professional careers."

Pinto said his early childhood began in the friendly confines of Ucassaim where the energy of youngsters was abound.

EDUCATION

“I attended Holy Cross High School in Bastora where I obtained my SSC degree. Holy Cross Bastora was a convent school which later converted to a co-ed education institution. In fact, in my SSC class, I was one of two boys in a class of approximately 30. It was a wonderful experience which kind off prepared me for what I would encounter in college,” said Pinto.

“On completion of my SSC, I attended St Xavier’s College in Mapusa, where I obtained my B.Sc. degree in Chemistry and Physics with first-class honours. While in St Xavier’s College, I took a holistic approach to education and participated in multiple extracurricular activities be it in individual sports or athletics.”

Pinto won the 10K individual walking race in Goa and came second in the all-Bombay University sports meet. He also participated in multiple sporting events, some of which were at the Bombay University level.

On completion of his B.Sc. degree, Pinto moved to the Center of Post Graduation Studies in Panaji.

“I graduated in Organic chemistry with an M.Sc. degree with first-class distinction honours. At this institution, I was shaped in what I was going to be in the future, a scientist that would excel in the area of chemistry. In particular, I owed this to my teacher and mentor Dr S K Paknikar, emeritus professor at Goa University. He not only instilled in us the beauty of the science but made it a very interesting subject to get excited about.”

After a stellar academic education, Pinto was accepted to continue his higher education (PhD) at the State University of New York (SUNY at Buffalo).

“I moved to the US in 1980 in what was going to be a very challenging but rewarding PhD degree. Buffalo was very special to me as it was in close proximity to Toronto, Canada where the rest of my siblings settled. I completed my PhD degree in the mid ’80s,” recalled Pinto.

“University education in the US was tough as I had to take subjects that were literally new for me while my colleagues had already a leg up on me as they were exposed to some of this work in their undergraduate studies.”

“It came with a lot of sleepless nights and networking with my fellow students to get me up to speed on the subject matter. Part of the PhD included active research where I was exposed to synthetic molecule design strategies. With a lot of hard work, I successfully completed my PhD degree and moved to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY for my post-doctoral fellowship. The training I got here prepared me for what was going to be a career in the pharma world," said Pinto.

Goan Scientist Leaves Mark in Pharma World - 2

Source: The Global Goenkar June 1, 2023

Award-winning Goan scientist Dr Donald Pinto began his career at the experimental station of DuPont in the drug discovery division of medical products in Wilmington Delaware.

He subsequently moved to Bristol Myers Squibb pharmaceutical company in Princeton NJ through an acquisition, where he is currently pursuing molecular targets against cardiovascular diseases. He has been working in the pharma industry for 35 years to date.

"DuPont, a company that produced products such as Nylon and Kevlar and other fine chemicals, was an exciting place to begin my career, and my work centred around drug discovery," said Dr Pinto.

"My research was in the areas of immunology and cardiovascular diseases, but it was in the latter that resulted in one of my most significant contributions. After nearly a decade of research along with a team of talented scientists, I was instrumental in the discovery of a novel oral anticoagulant apixaban. It took us nearly two years to perfect such a high-quality molecule and bring it to the market. This was proven in two landmark clinical trials (Averroes and Aristotle) comparing the efficacy and safety against aspirin and coumadin (warfarin). Currently, apixaban (Eliquis®) is approved for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (stroke prevention) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT/VTE) and is currently considered a standard of care for AF, and a leading small molecule pharmaceutical in the world. It is an honour to be associated with its discovery and especially for patients," said Dr Pinto.

For the discovery of apixaban, he received DuPont's highest award, the Sumit Award, the BMS Ondetti Cushman Award, Heroes of Chemistry Award by the American Chemical Society and the Sir James Black Award by the British Pharmacolog ical Society for Excellence in Drug Discovery.

After all these years he adds, "Research must go on for the next molecular target, to address a specific need in the area of cardiovascular diseases. Currently, my interest resides in developing novel entities for the treatment of heart failure."

"I had the benefit of having several compounds enter clinical trials, one of which has recently advanced to late-stage trials. In this industry, success is achieved by a combination of skill, hard work and the dedication and support of all my colleagues, where teamwork becomes even more important for advancing a new molecular entity," said Dr Pinto.

Besides, being an author/co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed research articles and patents, he has been a featured speaker at various scientific venues describing his research findings.

GOAN CONNECT

Dr Pinto says he owes a lot of his success to his wife Blossom, and his three children, Kirk, Diane and Denise, who are quite successful in their own careers.

"I have been fortunate to have several colleagues and friends cheering me on and enthusiastic about my research. Living in Pennsylvania but near New Jersey, I am a member of the Goan association in NJ (GOANJ) and belong to a small Pennsylvania group known as GoaPA group who has membership spans across eastern USA (PA/NJ/NY/DE)."

He went on to add, "The GoaPA group is also known as the SFX novena group named after our patron saint in Goa. We meet regularly as a group for worship, discuss business needs and socialize. Our mission is to give back to our community in Goa, primarily in the form of monetary help to those in need and support the Mother Theresa home near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania."

ADVICE

Asked for his advice to fellow Goans, Dr Pinto replied: "My message to young Goans is simple, if my story inspires you, then set high goals with a determination to achieve them. Losing focus would lead to unfulfilled dreams and careers. A highly skilled education should be the cornerstone of your career and do not settle for anything less. You have one advantage we did not have when we were growing up in the 70s. Science and technology have come of age, and everything is available with the click of a button. Various courses or knowledge can be obtained via tutors, on the internet and on YouTube."

"Growing up in the US allows one to interact with individuals with diverse backgrounds and skills. Embracing their creativity, skills and culture enriched me as an individual and has enhanced my outlook on life. Importantly, it made me appreciate what I have achieved today."

"We have a vibrant Goan and Indian community in the US and by no means I am the most over-achieving individual here. I feel so lucky to connect and interact with them. My dreams can be yours and so I urge Goans to stay focused, set high goals and have a determination to achieve them," summed up Dr Pinto.