TCG Lifesciences, a global contract research and manufacturing organization (CRAMs), has appointed Chris Senanayake, PhD, as chief scientific officer. Dr. Senanayake will be responsible for delivering highest quality scientific solutions and innovations to TCG’s global client base.
 
“Dr. Senanayake demonstrates the ability to define and optimize chemical research and development strategies and tactics,” said Swapan Bhattacharya, managing director, TCG Lifesciences. “He is able to ‘connect the dots’ between the purely scientific and commercial perspectives and set up creative and effective strategies for new and proprietary products in ways that build value for the organization and create a competitive advantage. We are delighted to welcome Chris into our leadership team and to leverage his expertise and experience to improve our scientific skills and deliver innovative solutions.”
 
Dr. Senanayake’s research interests focus on the development of sustainable manufacturing processes to APIs utilizing green chemistry principles, new synthetic methods for the construction of bioactive molecules and complex heterocycles, and on catalytic, enzymatic, and mechanistic studies. His career in the pharma industry spanned over 30 years at Merck, Boehringer Ingelheim and Separacor and he was instrumental in delivering several new drugs into the market, including Crixivan, Lunesta, Jardiance, Formotorol and Desvenlafaxine.
 
He has co-authored over 500 publications, patents, book chapters and review articles in many areas of synthetic organic chemistry, drug development and design of improved chemical entities. He received the prestigious Siegfried gold medal award for development of practical processes for APIs and Process Chemistry. He also serves on the editorial boards of Organic Synthesis, Organic Process Research & Development Journal, Advanced Synthesis and Catalysis Journal, Asian Journal of Organic Chemistry, Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry and others.