Wei Wang, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology
The University of New Mexico
Dr. Wang has disclosed 38 inventions, received two issued U. S. patents, has one pending patent application, one license agreement with Aldrich Chemical Company, Inc., for his metal-free organo- catalysts technology, and one option to license agreement with Andaman Therapeutics, Inc., for his bi-functional cancer drugs technology. In 2009, Dr. Wang received $25,000 in gap funding from STC’s gap-fund program to develop his technology for a more efficient and cost-effective process to produce the pharmaceutical agents Lyrica and Balcofen.
Dr. Wang’s metal-free, small molecule-based organocatalysts as general promoters can catalyze a wide variety of organic reactions. Aldrich Chemical is licensing his technology for the synthesis of structurally diverse chiral building blocks. These catalysts offer attractive features such as easy preparation, low cost, operational simplicity and environmental friendliness since they are not composed of expensive and toxic metals. Additionally, the catalysts perform reactions under mild conditions and are very stable because they are not sensitive to air and water. They can be immobilized on solid support and are easier to recycle and reuse. These characteristics make them particularly appealing for practical applications in industrial settings.
Andaman Therapeutics has an exclusive option to license Dr. Wang and his co-inventors’ technology for bi-functional cancer drugs. Small chemical inhibitors that target DNA repair and replication proteins in cancer cells could prevent them from escaping therapy and drug resistance. The technology uses new small bi-functional molecules that inhibit the cancer cell’s DNA repair and replication proteins and damage DNA. Additionally, the inhibitors can be combined with traditional anti-cancer agents and other therapies, especially radiation therapy, to significantly enhance efficacy. The technology is undergoing clinical trials at the UNM Cancer Center to validate their use as a new class of cancer therapeutics for several cancers including breast, prostate, lung, and rare and high mortality cancers.
Dr. Wang’s laboratory is interested in developing innovative chemical technologies and strategies to solve chemical and biological problems in the areas of organic synthesis, chemical biology and medicinal chemistry.
UNM-Affiliated Issued U. S. Patents
| 7,968,734 Organocatalysts and Methods of Use in Chemical Synthesis, issued June 28, 2011 |
| 8,084,641 Organocatalysts and Methods of Use in Chemical Synthesis, issued December 27, 2011 |
UNM-Affiliated Pending Patent Applications
| Novel Bifunctional Metnase/Intnase Inhibitors and Related Compositions and Methods of Treatment of Cancer |