B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D.

Floyd D. Gottwald, Jr. Chair in Pharmaceutical Engineering; Chair, Professor, Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering

  • Engineering West Hall, Room 403A, Richmond VA UNITED STATES
bfgupton@vcu.edu

Professor Gupton's research is focused on the development of new technologies that will streamline organic synthesis

Contact

Spotlight

1 min

Founder of Medicines for All Institute’s Vision: Produce Medications More Efficiently to Expand Global Access

Featuring: B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D. A former process development executive in the pharmaceutical industry, B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D., was coaxed out of retirement to teach in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. Gupton, whose research focuses on improving health care by making pharmaceutical production cleaner and more cost-effective, is founder and CEO of the Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL), based in the VCU College of Engineering. The institute began with a simple idea: expand global access to lifesaving medications by producing them more efficiently. The institute’s team of chemical engineers and chemists demonstrated compelling results with its first target, the anti-HIV/AIDS drug nevirapine. As the researchers continue to work on additional therapies for HIV/AIDS treatment and other diseases, M4ALL is now working with a manufacturer in South Africa and partnering with the government of Ivory Coast to bring their advances to the places they are most needed. VCU Engineering’s experts are available to speak about how M4ALL is transforming pharmaceutical engineering and improving access to medicines around the world. Gupton is the Floyd D. Gottwald Junior Chair in Pharmaceutical Engineering, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering. An award-winning researcher and National Academy of Inventors Fellow with multiple patents, he is an expert in his field. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview.

B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D.

2 min

One Child Dies Every Two Minutes from Malaria – VCU Experts Are Working to Stop Statistics Like This

Did you know 91 countries reported ongoing malaria transmission in 2015? In fact, in that year, according the World Health Organization there were 429,000 malaria deaths and 212 million new cases. While the numbers are astounding – some progress is being made. In fact, according to the World Malaria Report 2016, the rate of new malaria cases fell by 21% globally between 2010 and 2015. Malaria death rates fell by 29% in the same period. However, malaria still claims one child every two minutes. At the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering, the Medicines for All Initiative is helping address the crisis of diseases like malaria by increasing global access to lifesaving medications. Medicines for All develops processes that reduce the cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) a major cost driver in treating infectious diseases in the developing world. VCU is helping find solutions that utilize the lowest-cost raw materials and most efficient tools available. Medicines for All is bringing essential drugs to patients who need them most. VCU’s experts are available to speak regarding the devastating consequence of disease around the world and how VCU's Medicines for All Initiative is saving lives, promoting health and transforming pharmaceutical engineering. B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D., is a professor and the chair of the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at the VCU School of Engineering. He leads the Medicines for All project and is an award-winning researcher and an expert in his field. Simply click on his icon to arrange an interview. Source:

B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D.

2 min

The Value of a Cure and Do All Americans Benefit from Medical Breakthroughs?

On February 28, 2017 policymakers, health officials, industry representatives and patient advocates were meeting in Washington to discuss the ‘value of a cure’ – the costs, the public health benefits and how America will move forward following the passage of the 21st Century Cures legislation. The Act, which was signed in December promises to accelerate funding for biomedical research while it also loosens regulations governing drugs and medical equipment and devices. Innovations in medical research and technology have produced cures and breakthrough therapies to overcome diseases that were once considered a death sentence. Polio is preventable with a vaccine, HIV is managed with a daily drug regimen, and Hepatitis C now has a cure. But are these breakthroughs reaching all communities? How can we balance the high costs of drug development with affordability? And what can we do to ensure that new cures continue to be developed? This is where Virginia Commonwealth University can help. Our experts are thought leaders and are some of the go-to opinions in this field. Dr. Thomas Roper is a professor and the director of the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at the VCU School of Engineering. Thomas specializes in efforts to bring engineering and science closer to patients who utilize medicines via novel technologies. Dr. Frank Gupton is a professor and the chair of the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at the VCU School of Engineering. He leads the school’s Medicines for All project that is striving to reduces costs of treatment for AIDS. He is an award-winning researcher and an expert in his field. Both Dr. Roper and Dr. Gupton are available to speak with media regarding this very important issue. Simply click on either of their icons to arrange an interview. Source:

B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D.Thomas D. Roper, Ph.D.

Biography

CEO, co-founder | Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL)
Floyd D. Gottwald Junior Chair of Pharmaceutical Engineering | Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering
Chair and Professor | Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering, VCU College of Engineering

B. Frank Gupton, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized scholar and industry expert. After attending the University of Richmond on a basketball scholarship, he received his master’s degree from Georgia Tech. He earned his doctorate in chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University.

His 31-year industry career included senior positions with the Hoechst-Celanese Corporation and Boehringer-Ingelheim. In 2007, Gupton retired as executive director of process development for Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals.

Gupton then joined the VCU College of Engineering faculty and became the Floyd D. Gottwald Junior Chair in Pharmaceutical Engineering in 2016. His research focuses on improving global health care by making pharmaceutical production cleaner and more cost-effective. To help advance these goals, he founded the Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL) with a simple idea: expand global access to lifesaving medications by producing them more efficiently.

An inventor on multiple patents, including one for his work to produce nanoparticle catalysts supported on graphene, Gupton is a National Academy of Inventors Fellow. He received the Billy R. Martin Award for Innovation in 2017.

For his efforts with M4ALL to develop cost-saving methods to produce the anti-HIV drug nevirapine, he won the 2019 Peter J. Dunn Award from the American Chemical Society (ACS). For that work, he and M4ALL chief technology officer D. Tyler McQuade, Ph.D., also won the 2018 ACS Green Chemistry Challenge Award and the 2018 ACS Award for Affordable Green Chemistry. The institute is working with a manufacturer in South Africa and partnering with the government of Ivory Coast to bring these advances to the places they are most needed.

Industry Expertise

Education/Learning
Research

Areas of Expertise

Cross-Coupling Catalysis
Flow Chemistry / Continual Chemical Processing
Organic Synthesis in Pharmaceutical Applications

Accomplishments

Person of the Year Honoree, Richmond Times-Dispatch

2019

Lifetime Achievement Award, Richmond Joint Engineers Council

2015

American Chemical Society Award for Industrial Innovation

2001

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Education

Virginia Commonwealth University

Ph.D.

Chemistry

Georgia Institute of Technology

M.S.

Biochemistry

University of Richmond

B.S.

Chemistry

Affiliations

  • American Chemical Society Organic Division : Member
  • Flow Chemistry Society : Member
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers : Member

Media Appearances

The Phlow of Things

Richmond Magazine  print

2021-02-05

An advanced manufacturing hub is in the works in the south metro Richmond area, built around a multimillion-dollar project to build a national stockpile of essential medicines and to ramp up production of crucial pharmaceuticals and the ingredients from which the finished products are made. Richmond-based corporation Phlow is a focal point of the effort, receiving $354 million in federal money in May 2020.

Phlow is working with partners including the Medicines for All Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University, Civica Inc. and AMPAC Fine Chemicals.
[Phlow co-founder and CEO of the Medicines for All Institute] Dr. Frank Gupton ran process development at Boehringer Ingelheim [the German pharmaceutical company that operated at the site until 2014], before AMPAC took it over.

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Todd P. Haymore column: GO Virginia's vision becoming a reality in central Virginia

Richmond Times-Dispatch  print

2021-01-31

Thirteen years ago, VCU recruited Dr. Frank Gupton to grow the department of chemical and life science engineering.

He brought with him industry acumen and a dream to engage faculty and students to bring fresh insights to industry challenges.

VCU’s recruitment of Gupton and his vision have resulted in the development of new chemistries and engineering methods, the incorporation of best practices from other industries, and the advancement of techniques to make high-quality medicines faster, cheaper and with less environmental impact.

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$125M pharmaceutical plant to be built in Petersburg will create 200 jobs

Richmond BizSense  online

2021-01-22

Phlow seeks to help establish a national stockpile of drug ingredients for generic drugs, claiming the U.S. currently relies on foreign producers for such ingredients. It’s led by Eric Edwards and Frank Gupton. Edwards founded Shockoe Bottom-based pharma company Kaleo but left the company in 2019, while Gupton is chair of VCU’s College of Engineering and CEO of Medicines For All.

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Event Appearances

Streamlining Pharmaceutical Processes,

University of Richmond,  Richmond, VA.

2015-10-02

The Medicines for All Initiative

SelectBio Flow Chemistry Congress  San Diego, CA.

2015-09-15

A New Approach in Pharmaceutical Process Development

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University  Blacksburg, VA.

2015-09-04

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Patents

Production of graphene and nanoparticle catalysts supported on graphene using microwave radiation.

WO2011119961A2

2011

Production of Gupton_CV: 5/11 graphene and nanoparticle catalysts supported on graphene using microwave radiation

WO2011119961A2.

2011

Improved process for preparation of 5,11-dihydro-11-ethyl-5-methyl-8-{2-{(1-oxido-4-quinolinyl)oxy}ethyl}-6H-di pyrido[3,2- b:2',3'-e][1,4]diazepin-6-one used as HIV-RT inhibitor

US20070129542A1

2007

Research Grants

Collaborative Research Planning Grant: I/UCRC Center for Rational Catalyst Synthesis

National Science Foundation

April 2014 – Feb. 2015

Development of Asymmetric Heterogeneous Hydrogenation Catalysts

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

June 2013 - Aug. 2014

Development of Reaction Conditions for Conversion of Artemisinic Acid to Dihydroartemisinic Acid

Clinton Health Access Initiative

May 2013 – Oct. 2014

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Selected Articles

Highly efficient and magnetically recyclable graphene-supported Pd/Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticle catalysts for Suzuki and Heck cross-coupling reactions

Applied Catalysis A: General

2015

Herein, we report a facile and efficient one-step method for the synthesis of highly active, Pd/Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles supported on graphene nanosheets (Pd/Fe 3 O 4/G) that exhibit excellent catalytic activity for Suzuki and Heck coupling reactions and that can be ...

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Selective N-Chelation-Directed C–H Activation Reactions Catalyzed by Pd (II) Nanoparticles Supported on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Organic letters

2015

N-Chelation-directed C–H activation reactions that utilize the Pd (II)/Pd (IV) catalytic cycle have been previously reported. To date, these reactions employ only homogeneous palladium catalysts. The first use of a solid-supported Pd (II) catalyst [Pd (II) nanoparticles ...

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The continuous synthesis and application of graphene supported palladium nanoparticles: a highly effective catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions

Green Processing and Synthesis

2015

An efficient, sustainable, and continuous method for the preparation of graphene supported palladium nanoparticles (Pd/G) has been developed using microwave irradiation as a heating source for the metal deposition process. The Pd/G produced from this method ...

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