Dr. Frank Gupton is a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and holds joint appointments in the Departments of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering. He is the Floyd D. Gottwald Chair of Pharmaceutical Engineering and also serves as Department Chair of the Chemical and Life Science Engineering Department. His thirty-year industrial career centered on the development and commercialization of chemical processes for pharmaceutical applications. Dr. Gupton’s research group is currently focused on the development of continuous processing technology to facilitate the discovery, development and commercialization of drug products. Prior to joining the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Gupton served as the Executive Director of North American Process Development for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals and led the commercialization of the widely prescribed HIV drug nevirapine. Dr. Gupton received his Bachelors of Science degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond and graduate degrees in organic chemistry from Georgia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dr. Gupton’s research efforts have focused on streamlining pharmaceutical processes, particularly in the area of active ingredients, by employing the principles of process intensification which include the use of innovative chemistry, novel continuous manufacturing platforms, and new and more efficient catalysts for pharmaceutical applications. The research group’s efforts are guided and driven based on both financial and environmental impact that can be derived from this effort. Dr. Gupton is the recipient of the 2018 American Chemical Society Award for Affordable Green Chemistry, and in the same year, he received the Presidential Award for Green Chemistry. In 2019 he received the Peter J. Dunn Award for Green Chemistry and Engineering Impact in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Round Table. These awards were associated with Professor Gupton’s work on the development of a highly efficient process to produce nevirapine, a first-line treatment in HIV therapy.
Dr. Gupton received funding in 2018 from the National Science Foundation to establish a Center for Rational Catalyst Synthesis which is an industry/university collaboration research center (I/UCRC). The center is a multi-institutional collaboration between VCU, University of South Carolina, and University of Cal Berkeley.
Dr. Gupton received his initial funding from the Medicines for All Institute in 2014 with a focus on reinventing active pharmaceutical ingredient processes for HIV, Malaria, and Tuberculosis drugs. His work has most recently expanded to include on-shoring manufacturing activities with the federal government under the department of health and human services in collaboration with CiviaRx, AMPAC Fine Chemicals, and Phlow Corporation. This initiative is focused on an end-to-end solution for access to essential medicines in the United States as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.