Today
the academia industry collaboration has become a pivotal driver of innovation, bridging
the gap between theoretical advancements and real-world applications. Universities
provide the blue-sky and nurture the talent pool to shape the future,
while industry from manufacturing to the creative arts, realizing economic and
societal impact of innovation.
Having
said that, I must share the story of our accidental discovery that led to a
productive molecule that gained interest for academic research investigations to
explore its applications as a bioactive molecule, showing potent anti-microbial
activity.
This was two years back when we
were working on developing non-infringing route for Gefitinib, the Oncology
API. We were developing a six steps scalable chemistry and further filing for
IP right. In the second step of nitration on commercially available methyl isovanillate,
we observed some abnormal TLC pattern. That triggered us to further characterise
this accidental molecule NMR and Mass. Mass data clearly showed this was not
mono- but dinitro product. Then next based on NMR data and splitting pattern,
we confirmed that the structure of this molecule matched following structure.
Later when searched we could see this product already in literature with defined
CAS number. Later it further confirmed by comparing the NMR data this
accidental product with literature NMR data. Therefore, we came to conclusion
that this is dinitro aromatic compound with name Methyl
3-hydroxy-4-methoxy-2,6-dinitrobenzoate (MMDB) with its CAS number: 1261079-62-2.
I
have the habit of sharing interesting outcomes/news on social media. So, as
soon as the product is confirmed, I shared this on LinkedIn as the “Accidental
Product” from our company: SudhiShubha ChemSynthons, Bangalore. The
purpose was to bring this accidental discovery to public domain, so that if anybody
interested to explore it’s applications, we were open to collaborate.
[The paper published: The Microbe Volume 10, March 2026, 100694].
The
study highlighted in the publication.
- Remarkable antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains—including multi-drug-resistant (MDR) pathogens—at doses as low as 50 µg/mL.
- Potent antibacterial action and
antifungal activity against C. albicans, P. notatum, and A. niger.
- Multifaceted Profile: Shows
promising antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Safety First: Toxicity profiling in
human cell lines (HEK293T, 4T1, MDA-MB-231) and zebrafish models
These
findings were very promising positioning MMDB as a strong lead compound for
future clinical applications and lead optimization studies. Secondly this
publication did not come quickly, it is the result of nine months continuous
effort by Dr. Gagandeep Sir to try 3-4 journals and never give-up attitude finally
gave this paper. This is great news for whole team, who took part in this endeavour.
That is why it is quoted that “Science is a team sport, and everyone played
their part in this team effort.
In
my perception, this is great effort towards bridging-gap between Academia and
Industry to bring our great discovery or product that is impact on real world.
For
SudhiShubha ChemSynthons, Bangalore, a research driven startup in chemical
science, this is second achievement after we successfully developed non-infringing
route for Gefitinib. An Oncology API, which was further taken by JSS College of
Pharmacy, Mysore to file Indian patent for this API synthesis. This patent also
got published and waiting for this patent to be granted.
When
like minded people work together to make difference successful Academia-Industry
collaboration can be possible in our country also.
I am thankful to students who worked on this project, the collaborators from Academia and publishing committee for making this dream come true.
