Services
BioVinc R&D and Consulting Services
BioVinc is led by long-time experts in the field of bisphosphonate research and scientists that were instrumental in developing many of the bone active and fluorescently tagged bisphosphonates that continue to be studied today. Our scientists are available to advise customers of BioVinc on their research plans, grant applications, and results in studies with the bisphosphonates. We are also actively soliciting contract R&D in the field and can utilize our own laboratories as well as university facilities to assist in the scale-up, design, and synthesis of bisphosphonate-related compounds in particular. The development of diagnostic tools and tissue-selective drug targeting are areas of continued focus in research and development at BioVinc. Please feel free to contact us via the BioVinc contact number (1-310-730-5609) or at our direct email/phone numbers.
Frank H. Ebetino, PhD
President/Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Ebetino has worked on bisphosphonates for over 30 years. He spent most of his industrial career at Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals and now serves as President and Chief Scientific Officer at BioVinc. He is a trained synthetic and medicinal chemist who was a member of the team that discovered and developed the drug risedronate (Actonel®) for osteoporosis. His work with colleagues Prof. Graham Russell and Prof. Michael Rogers was a key to the discovery of the primary enzymatic target of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates within the osteoclast bone cell (farnesyl diphosphate synthase). His further work on bone affinity characteristics and mechanisms led to discoveries of differential uptake, distribution, and excretion of the current clinically used bisphosphonates.
Dr. Ebetino has led teams conducting crystallographic studies of the bisphosphonates in enzymes of the mevalonic acid pathway and the development and study of new fluorescently labeled bisphosphonates with a wide variety of pharmacological characteristics. Dr. Ebetino has published more than 100 authoritative journal articles and patents in the field and continues to study new medical uses and chemical variants in this class of drugs. He currently has a particular research interest in the application of bisphosphonate technology to targeted drug delivery and the development of new imaging diagnostics.
Email: halebetino@biovinc.com
Phone: 1-513-532-4084
Dr. Jeffrey Neighbors
Scientific Consultant
Dr. Jeffrey Neighbors began his drug development career in the private sector at Terpenoid Therapeutics Inc. and developed successful grant strategies for multiple STTR/SBIR grant awards in support of two anticancer drug development programs. In this role Jeff led a team that carried out extensive ADME and pharmacokinetic studies on multiple anti-cancer compounds including a small molecule bisphosphonate. He has also managed the outsourcing of early toxicology studies at various CRO’s. Over the past 10 years he has also been developing an ADME PK group for the Penn State Cancer Institute. This group has carried out numerous PK studies in support of human clinical trials.
His technical focus has included the study of isoprenoid pathway inhibitors, including bisphosphonate inhibitors of farnesyl diphosphate synthase (i.e. zoledronate, alendronate etc.) in collaboration with Professor Raymond Hohl the Director of the Penn State Cancer Institute. In addition, he was instrumental in the design and synthesis of several novel bisphosphonate inhibitors of other isoprenoid pathway enzymes with the goal of treating cancers and fibrosis.
Dr. Neighbors has been involved in the basic science of pharmacology and drug development from hit to lead optimization for over 20 years, including helping to coordinate many such projects at BioVinc. He is currently an Associate Professor of Molecular and Precision Medicine at Penn State University, and the Senior Director of Development for BioVinc LLC.
Email: jneighbors@biovinc.com
Shuting Sun, PhD
Chief Scientist
Dr. Sun is a highly trained medicinal chemist with a focus on multifunctional phosphonate based drug actives. She received her PhD in 2013 at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and is now the Chief Scientist at BioVinc. She has been the premier synthetic chemist for the past 6 years within the McKenna/Kashemirov research laboratory on the design and preparation of fluorescently labeled bisphosphonates and as a consequence has collaborated and contributed to an extremely diverse series of research programs. Her chemistry design has produced a wide variety of fluorescent bisphosphonates that vary in bone affinity, imaging tags, and inherent bone resorption inhibitory activity. Her work has led to critical research findings in the fields of bone metabolism, dental abnormalities, cochlear abnormalities, and the development of innovative potential new diagnostic research tools.
Dr. Sun has a particular interest in coupling new imaging tools and instrumentation to the benefit of therapeutic advances and disease monitoring. As a result, Dr. Sun has already published more than 20 research articles and patent applications in her fields of interest while being a relatively junior scientific member of the BioVinc scientific team.
Email: shuting.sun@biovinc.com
Phone: 1-213-249-3116