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David Dodds has devoted his entire career to the use of biological methods for performing organic chemistry and has worked at the interface of process chemistry and industrial biotechnology for nearly 30 years. 

After obtaining his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry under Prof. Bryan Jones at the University of Toronto in 1984, he was awarded a Medical Research Council of Canada post-doctoral fellowship which he pursued in molecular biology with Prof. Marvin Caruthers at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

In 1986 David joined Sepracor, where his work led to a number of patents covering the enzymatic resolution of pharmaceutical intermediates, one of which earned royalties of several million dollars. In this particular project, David was the chief technical witness in a patent interference suit in which Sepracor prevailed.

In 1991, he was invited to establish a new group within Chemical Process Development at Schering-Plough. His group successful introduced biocatalysis in over a dozen projects at scales ranging from lab-bench scale synthesis of drug metabolites for Drug Discovery groups, to GMP pilot-plant batches providing intermediates for clinical material. This included the use of a non-aqueous enzymatic step in the synthesis of POSACONAZOLE®. Under David's leadership, the group filed 13 patent disclosures and produced a total of 37 public presentations and publications - an unusual accomplishment for an industrial development group.

While at Schering-Plough, David initiated, planned, and presented to the President of the Institute an engineering project for automating powder dispensing for enzyme screening, which received $1.25M outside of the Institute's formal budget. This was a company first in applying automation to process development, led to proprietary engineering technology, and automated a tedious but essential activity of his group.

In 1999, David was invited to take over a larger group at Bristol-Myers Squibb, and became Director of Fermentation and Biocatalysis Development. His group handled chemical process development, molecular biology, industrial fermentation, and GMP analytical services, supporting both Discovery and Production. He was responsible for reviewing all technology that was sent to BMS regarding TAXOL®, writing the technical evaluation for the formal corporate response. David managed and renewed a multi-million dollar external project for the biological production of TAXOL® and novel taxanes.

In an unusual project, David successfully explained to regulatory groups how chemically synthesizing the genes of bovine enzymes for microbial expression - instead of cloning them - would allow a commercial process to comply with TSE regulations. 

Pursuing a longstanding ambition, David established Dodds & Associates in January 2002, and provides new and small companies with technical strategy, IP analysis, and CTO-level management across a range of disciplines covering process chemistry, molecular biology, biotransformations & biocatalysis, industrial biotech, plus fermentation of natural products and recombinant enzymes. Located in central New York, David is within driving distance of Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and New York City. He carries both United States and Canadian citizenship.

David has organized and chaired several international symposia, served as North American Editor for the Journal of Molecular Catalysis B, and has an extensive record of patents, publications, and invited presentations in various forums on both sides of the Atlantic. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor for Rondaxe, is on the scientific advisory boards for ZuChem and Kent BioEnergy, and was an original member of the Codexis Industrial Advisory Board.