Bio Sketch

Dr. Gautam Panda has more than 21 years of biomedical research experience in harnessing chiral amino acids and trisubstituted methanes derived bioactive natural products, heterocycles towards drug discovery and human wellbeing. His work on cost effective synthesis of block-buster drugs is worth highlighting. He is an author of ~126 publications (3203 citations, h-index 31) and an inventor of 7 patents. 

Salient Features:

1.  Filed patents on process routes for two off-patented drugs (having no suppliers in India) like Almitrine and Ifenprodil which are at Phase III trials as repurposed drugs for Covid-19. Work has been transferred to Reliance Rasayan Private Limited (RRPL), Ahmedabad, Gujrat. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has asked to submit protocol for Phase II trial for Covid-19 patients 

2.  Discovered new process routes of Nintedanib for non-small cell lung cancer and Olaparib to treat advanced ovarian cancer in patients with specific mutations and prior history of chemotherapy. Talks are undergoing to transfer the technology to suitable companies 

5. Conceptualized new kind of steroidomimetics utilizing chiral amino acids. Tyrosine-derived benzoxazine lead regressed tumor growth without causing any mortality in rat syngenic mammary tumor model  

6. Conceptualized trisubstituted methane S006-830 as antitubercular agents with CFU count of 2.2 x 107 with comparable efficacies to ethambutol and PZA

7.  Synthesized 20 bioactive natural products and their stereoisomers like inhibitors of protein kinase C (-)-Balanol and antifungal antibiotic Ophiocordin, nicotinic agonists (+)-epiquinamide and (+)-α- conhydrine, antimitotic C3-epi-(+)-lycoricidine, Jaspine B, potent inhibitor of glucosidase enzymes 8,8a-diepicastanospermine and (-)-Swainsonine, antibacterial levofloxacin and piperazinomycin, antimalarial (─)-Raphidecursinol B, novel antitumoral of marine origin spisulosine and Plinabulin, Psammaplin like, Taiwaniaquinoids etc.

8.  Critically evaluated Amino acids and Non-amino acids based synthetic approach towards bioactive natural products  

9.  Published new routes for anti-histamines Meclizine, Hydroxyzine and Cetirizine and anti-tubercular drug Bedaquiline like molecules 

10. Discovered spisulosine analog that markedly induces autophagic cell death to cancer cells

11. Metal free synthesis of dearylated drugs like Lasofoxifene and centchroman

12. Work on chiral serine azide through Weinreb amide to reduce acidity of α-proton is widely utilized.