Journal of Vaccines & Vaccination

IRFAN A. MOHAMMED

Biography

2020-Present     ALEXION PHARMACEUTICALS                                                                                                NEW HAVEN, CT             

                              Associate Director, Operations Asset Leader

                              Leading Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) development strategy and operations to advance medicines for rare diseases from Phase 1 to commercialization stage.

                              NEVAKAR, INC.                                                                                                                        BRIDGEWATER, NJ                

2020- present     Senior Research Scientist, Formulation R&D

2018-2020          Research Scientist II, Formulation R&D

2016-2018          Research Scientist I, Formulation R&D                                                                                                                                        

• Led the development of an ophthalmic drug product to delay the progression of myopia in children by using design of experiments (DOE) and quality-by-design (QBD) principles, leading to 30+ patents (awarded/ pending) in the US and rest of the world (ROW).
  • Currently, the program is undergoing Phase III clinical trial in the US (Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT03350620), Europe (EudraCT #: 2018-001077-24).
  • Acknowledged by World Health Organization (WHO) as an Epidemic that the global prevalence of Myopia is estimated to effect 52% (4949 million) of the world’s population by 2050 (https://www.who.int/blindness/causes/MyopiaReportforWeb.pdf).
  • Innovation acknowledged by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) (https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-new-approach-to-dealing-with-myopia-in-kids-11591640274?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2); (https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/07/myopia-epidemic-sets-off-alarm-bells/)

• Led the development of ready-to-use (RTU) drug products for emergency medicine; to administer the treatment to the patients quickly, efficiently and reducing the risk of medication errors. This can add significant value to the healthcare providers and systems by reducing the time required to administer the treatment to the patients, duration of the treatment/ hospitalization time and reducing the overall healthcare costs. The drug products developed within this area are used:
  • Ephedrine Sulfate Injection, 50mg/10mL, Approved by the US FDA in October 2020; US patent approved; for the treatment of clinically important hypotension occurring in the setting of anesthesia (emergency setting), where the patient needs immediate attention and the medical professionals have limited time to respond to the emergency
  • For the treatment/ control of blood pressure in hypotensive states (e.g., pheochromocytomectomy, sympathectomy, poliomyelitis, spinal anesthesia, myocardial infarction, blood transfusion and drug reactions). It is also used as an adjunct in the treatment of cardiac arrest and profound hypotension.
  • To facilitate tracheal intubation (maintain open airway in patients), and to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation, both of which are critical situations for both the patient and the medical professionals.

2015-2016          TELIGENT, INC.                                                                                                                                                          BUENA, NJ

                              Scientist, Product Development

• Led the research and development of affordable generic medicine focusing on hospital injectable products and ophthalmic drug products.

2013-2015          PHARMACEUTICS INTERNATIONAL, INC. (Pii)                                                                          HUNT VALLEY, MD

                              Scientist I, Formulation Development and Technology Transfer, Sterile Products

• Contributed to the development of injectable medicines within the oncology space- multiple myeloma, chemotherapy-induced nausea and medicines for the treatment of methemoglobinemia, Paget’s disease

Research Interest

Drug products for emergency medicine; to administer the treatment to the patients quickly, efficiently and reducing the risk of medication errors. This can add significant value to the healthcare providers and systems by reducing the time required to administer the treatment to the patients, duration of the treatment/ hospitalization time and reducing the overall healthcare costs. The drug products developed within this area are used: