Visit of Dr. Tao from BioVerdant in DICP

Dr. Junhua Tao, originator and Chief Scientist of BioVerdant Bio-Tech Co., USA, was invited to visit DICP by Prof. LI Can, Vice-Director of DICP and Member of CAS, on 4th August. Dr. Tao was also the originator and department head of the Bio-Conversion Research Center of Pfizer, Inc. USA. He is engaging in the R&D of biocatalysts and their applications in pharmaceutical and chemical developments.

During his visit, Dr. Tao was invited to give a lecture titled "Recent Advances of Biocatalysis in Pharmaceutical Development". He described in his lecture how to synthesize new drugs such as Pregabalin, Atorvastatin Calcium, and Levetiracetam Keppra via biocatalysis and techniques based on cloning, bio-informatics, genomics, proteomics, protein evolution and high through-put screening. The lecture session was chaired by Prof. ZOU Hanfa of DICP.

Dr. Tao was also invited to tour the Bio-Tech Division and the State Key Lab of Catalysis of DICP. He conducted in-depth discussions with DICP scientists during his stay in the institute.