OUR SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD
Timothy F. Jamison, Ph.D
Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor
A world-renowned expert in flow chemistry, methodology development, and organic synthesis, Tim Jamison founded Snapdragon Chemistry with a vision to enhance the entire drug discovery >> development >> manufacturing value chain through flow chemistry. With a career spanning over 15 years as a Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), including as Department Head of Chemistry, Tim has advanced the organic chemistry field with over 125 academic publications. Tim is also a key scientific leader in the Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing, where he makes fundamental contributions to the initiative with his expertise in flow chemistry. In addition, he has worked with numerous pharmaceutical companies to solve some of their most difficult chemistry challenges that arise in their drug discovery/development efforts.
Aaron B. Beeler, PhD
Co-Founder and Synthetic Technologies Advisor
Aaron Beeler is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Boston University and, prior to that, was Associate Director of the Center for Chemical Methodology and Library Development at Boston University. Aaron has authored 31 publications and has 2 patents. In addition, he has made fundamental contributions to flow chemistry and medicinal chemistry and shares in the same vision as Tim of transforming drug discovery/development through flow chemistry. Aaron’s research has contributed considerably to the development of unique reactor designs in flow chemistry and has enabled, among other things, photochemistry to create unique building blocks that greatly expand the medicinal chemists’ toolkit for discovering more effective medicines.
Christopher J. Welch, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Christopher J. Welch is Chief Scientific Officer for Welch Innovation, LLC, an independent research and consulting firm located in Cranbury, NJ USA. Dr. Welch has worked in a variety of fields within the chemical industry, including discovery synthesis of agrochemicals (Velsicol-Sandoz), development of reagents for improved immunodiagnostic assays (Abbott Laboratories), development and commercialization of chromatographic stationary phases, reagents and enantioselective catalysts within a small chemical business environment (Regis Technologies) and the invention and application of new purification, analysis and high throughput experimentation technologies for pharmaceutical process research (Merck & Co.). Dr. Welch has authored more than 250 scientific publications and patents. He is co-founder of the journal, Enantiomer, a member of the editorial advisory board for the journals, Chirality, Journal of the Korean Chemical Society, Chemistry World and ACS Central Science. He has received honors and awards including the NJCG Award for Excellence in Chromatography, the PACS Activated Carbon Hall of Fame award, Merck Research Laboratories Presidents Award for Environmental Achievement, Microsoft Life Science Innovation Award, Fellow of the American Chemical Society, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Chirality Medal, the University of Nebraska Chemistry Industrial Award and the EAS Award for Outstanding Achievement in Separation Science.
Stephen L. Buchwald, PhD
Scientific Advisor
Steve Buchwald is the Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is an expert in new chemical reaction methodology/development. His academic career has spanned over thirty years, during which he has co-authored over 420 academic publications and has 44 issued patents. His numerous honors and awards include the 2013 Arthur C. Cope Award from the American Chemical Society, the 2014 Linus Pauling Medal Award, and the 2014 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences (awarded in 2015). He was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000 and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008. Professor Buchwald also serves as a scientific consultant to many companies and is an associate editor of Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis.
Andrea Adamo, PhD
Innovation Advisor
Andrea Adamo is the CEO of Zaiput Flow Technologies — a leading continuous flow equipment design/manufacturing firm — and an entrepreneur with extensive experience in the development of innovative engineering solutions. Dr. Adamo holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Palermo, Italy and a Ph.D. in Fluid Mechanics from the University Federico II of Naples, Italy, in addition to a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was also awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. After completing his graduate studies, Dr. Adamo joined the laboratory of Professor Klavs Jensen, in MIT’s Chemical Engineering Department. He worked in the Jensen Group first as a post-doctoral associate and then as a research associate. In these positions, Dr. Adamo gained extensive experience in the design and manufacturing of innovative microfluidic and millifluidic systems.
Snapdragon Chemistry solves the most complex and challenging chemistry problems of pharmaceutical, chemical, animal care, and material science companies around the globe. If you can dream it, we can develop it.
Our state-of-the-art laboratories, software/devices, and the industry’s brightest chemists and engineers enable us to “crack the code” on chemical development in a way that others can’t. We don’t rest until your molecules are thoroughly characterized and repeatable, reliable processes are developed, and production is demonstrated.
Founded in 2014, we focus on developing practical manufacturing solutions for challenging chemical transformations to enable us to discover, develop, and implement scalable synthetic processes for our clients.
Our clients include Fortune 100 companies as well as numerous leading-edge startup companies. Our clients seek innovative, timely, productive, cost-effective, and robust solutions for their discovery and manufacturing needs.
We apply proprietary chemical and engineering techniques which enable us to solve your most challenging chemical development processes. We employ an array of in-line and at-line PAT technologies for real-time monitoring and control. Process demonstration on gram or kilogram scale is followed by seamless pilot-scale GMP-capable production.
OUR MISSION
To help our clients harness the significant, lasting advantages of continuous flow technology and autonomous reaction platforms to transform their entire discovery, development & manufacturing value chain.
We believe that developing and implementing autonomous reaction development and optimization platforms based on continuous flow technology has transformed chemical process research and development. These tools impact discovery and manufacturing paradigms across a variety of industries where organic chemistry is central to product realization. Those that can harness flow technology while applying artificial intelligence and machine learning early will have a decisive, lasting advantage over competitors as the technology enables important productivity, efficiency, and speed enhancements.
OUR VALUES
CLIENT ORIENTED
Our primary focus is to support you in overcoming challenges and successfully achieving your objectives. Providing excellent client service and building a lasting partnership with you underpin everything that we do.
SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION
We believe that scientific innovation is paramount to delivering best-in-class products and services to our clients. We have created an unparalleled network of academic and industry experts that enables our offerings to remain at the forefront of process development technology.
TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Our employees are not only the best and brightest scientists but also exceptional people. As our most valuable resource, they provide outstanding services and products. Our entrepreneurial culture and emphasis on scientific distinction attracts like-minded scientists who seek to tackle and resolve the most complex and challenging problems.
OUR LEADERSHIP
Our leadership team and advisory board are comprised of preeminent scientists and experienced thought leaders who are passionate about helping you drive results, unlock potential, and maximize value by taking full advantage of continuous flow technology.
Collectively, our team has advised many leading pharmaceutical companies and chemical manufacturers on their most important chemistry challenges.
Matthew M. Bio, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Matthew Bio brings substantial experience in process development to Snapdragon Chemistry and is driven by a passion for developing new technologies in organic synthesis; enabling safer, more efficient processes; and providing access to new chemical architectures. Matthew earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Columbia University and went on to work as a process development chemist at Merck Research Laboratories. In 2006, Matthew moved to Amgen, where he was promoted to Director of Process Development and led the development of both batch and continuous processes for clinical candidates. Throughout his career, Matthew has been involved in the development of more than 50 clinical candidates, the launch of three new drugs to the market, and is author or inventor on numerous regulatory filings and more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and patents.
Eric Fang, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Eric Fang drives a rigorous and fundamental approach to chemical process development at Snapdragon Chemistry. As Chief Scientific Officer, Eric oversees all projects and guides solution delivery by building a deep understanding of all projects through kinetic and thermodynamic analyses. Eric completed his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of Toronto under the direction of Professor Mark Lautens. Subsequently, Eric worked with Professor Eric Jacobsen as an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University where he focused on asymmetric catalysis and natural product synthesis. He began his industrial career at Amgen in Small Molecule Process and Product Development. He quickly rose in levels of responsibility while developing elegant synthetic routes and bring new process technologies to many complex molecules in Amgen's pipeline. Eric is passionate about the tremendous power and opportunity Snapdragon's core technology brings to the development and application of continuous synthetic routes to complex molecules.
Rick Lifsitz
Chief Operating Officer
Rick is responsible for all financial, operational and product management initiatives at Snapdragon Chemistry. He has over 25 years of technology, healthcare, startup, and strategy consulting experience. He began his post-graduate career working for The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the high-technology and healthcare strategy groups. He has been a co-founder or early team member in five companies that have had a game-changing effect in their respective industries. Rick was also a Vice President at Precision Advisors where he led 50+ strategy projects at the intersection of technology and the pharmaceutical/life science industries. He holds an MBA from The Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree from The University of Michigan. Rick has two issued patents in hyperspectral imaging.
David Ford, Ph.D.
Director of Chemistry
David is a Director of Chemistry at Snapdragon Chemistry. In this role, he provides guidance for process development projects as well as the design and build of reactor systems. David performed his graduate studies with Professor Eric Jacobsen at Harvard University. The theme of his thesis research was using physical-organic chemistry techniques to elucidate mechanistic details of catalytic reactions. He began his industrial career at Nalas Engineering Services, where he focused on using continuous reactor designs and data-rich experimentation to enable safe and consistent scale-up of chemical processes. In 2017, David moved to Snapdragon Chemistry, where he has honed his experience in continuous process development while also building experience developing software and hardware for automation and control from the lab to the plant.
Kevin Nagy, Ph.D., PMP
Director of Engineering
Kevin is the Director of Engineering at Snapdragon Chemistry and brings extensive experience in process design, process development, scale-up, technology transfer, and project management to Snapdragon. Prior to joining Snapdragon in 2020, he spent eight years at DuPont developing renewable polysaccharide and polyester materials at lab, pilot, and multi-ton scales and holds several patents in this space. Kevin earned both a Master’s and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from MIT, where he developed continuous flow process technology as part of the Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Tech.
Lisa Reed
Head of Quality Assurance
Lisa has more than 25 years of experience in quality assurance in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and drug manufacturing industries and has a track record of proven results in maintaining the highest possible quality standards for investigational products. She will oversee quality assurance at Snapdragon, including at our state-of-the-art GMP drug substance facility opening later this year at 360 Second Avenue in Waltham. She comes to Snapdragon from Syndax Pharmaceutical, where she served as senior director of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) quality assurance. Prior to joining Syndax, she spent more than six years as the owner and principal consultant of L. Reed Global QA, Inc. She has also worked at EISAI, Inc. as the global development quality assurance director. Before joining EISAI, Reed held director-level positions at Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, Altarex, Inc., and Reprogenesis/Curis. She earned her BS in Biomedical Laboratory and Clinical Sciences from Boston University and holds a Master of Management degree.
Hui Fang
Director of Product Quality Attributes and Analytical Sciences
Hui is leading the Product Quality Attribute and Analytical Sciences group supporting Snapdragon's GMP manufacturing efforts. He was most recently working at Akebia Therapeutics where he managed CMC analytical development and operation for clinical and commercial products and contributed to the NDA filing of an innovative small molecule drug for market authorization in the US. Before Akebia, Hui worked at Eisai pharmaceutical company for 10 years as an analytical scientist where he has supported a broad range of drug development programs advancing through preclinical and clinical stages with a few NCE drugs successfully commercialized in global markets. During his tenure at Eisai, Hui has contributed to numerous regulatory filings in the US, EU, and Japan, and co-authored several scientific publications for API process research and analytical development through internal and external collaborations. Hui earned a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Stephen Weber from the University of Pittsburgh where he developed a novel capillary-based microfluidic reactor to automate organic synthesis and perform high-throughput compound screening. Hui also earned an M.S. in polymer chemistry and physics at Nankai University in China where he developed a novel biocompatible absorbent to remove endotoxins from human blood by hemoperfusion to treat severe sepsis.
Andy Miles
Director of Business Development
Andy has worked in the pharmaceutical industry of 20+ years. He started his career at Rhone Poulenc AG in Discovery Chemistry after completing his bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and Chemistry at Eastern Illinois University. Andy transitioned in Business Development with Bodman Industries selling chromatography and medicinal chemistry equipment to pharmaceutical companies. He later moved to TharSFC (a Waters Company) focusing on Supercritical Fluid Chromatography and Extraction Processes. The past 12 years has been with Regis Technologies leveraging his expertise in analytical and synthesis selling structural elucidation and custom manufacturing services to pharmaceutical companies preparing for their IND and NDA submissions.
