Vice President of Research

Emisphere Technologies, Inc.

Dr. Steve Dinh is Vice President of Research at Emisphere Technologies, Inc., where he and his colleagues are involved in the discovery of novel oral drug delivery technologies, and in the application of these technologies to develop innovative drug products based on macromolecular and polar drug molecules. He joined Emisphere in 1999 with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical R&D and academia. Most recently, he served as Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President of R&D at Lavipharm Inc. where he headed its global R&D operations. Formely, he was Head of Transdermals R&D at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, where he was responsible for controlled drug delivery research and global transdermal product development.

Steve Dinh received his educational training in Chemical Engineering, with a Sc.D. from MIT in 1981, a M.S. from Cornell University, and a B.E. from Cooper Union. He started his career on the faculty of the Chemical Engineering department at UCLA, and was instrumental in forming the Crump Institute for Biomedical Engineering with his research program in mass-transfer processes. He then moved to DuPont’s Corporate Research to focus on advanced materials and technology development. Among his accomplishments, his work led to the commercialization of liquid crystalline and ceramic fibers, and to patented novel technologies. He then joined the Drug Delivery organization at Ciba-Geigy. During his tenure, he built a team that gained international recognition in drug delivery research and product development.

Dr. Dinh is widely recognized in the field of Drug Delivery with numerous publications in peer reviewed scientific journals, and has co-authored several books addressing drug delivery technologies and chronotherapeutics. He is a frequent invited speaker at national and international scientific symposia.

This presentation provides an overview of a novel and broad-based drug delivery technology that enables the delivery of macromolecular drugs. The technology utilizes small organic molecules (delivery agents) that interact noncovalently with a drug to facilitate its permeation across biological membranes. Studies tracking the transport pathways suggest that the mechanism of drug transport is transcellular without damaging the cell membrane. Physicochemical measurements show that the interaction is weak between the drug and the delivery agent. As a result, these two components are separated once they cross the epithelial cells and enter the blood circulation, where the drug can then elicit its intended biological activity.