Vivek is a formulation scientist with several years of experience in both industry and academia. He joined academia in 2010 after obtaining his Ph.D. in material processing and drug delivery. His primary research interests include solubility improvement of BCS II drugs and the non-invasive delivery of biomolecules. Vivek’s research strongly revolves around the use of green processing techniques, such as supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) to develop suitable strategies for drug delivery. For example, Vivek has been looking into the applications of scCO2 to manipulate the physical properties of drugs and excipients to prepare cyclodextrin-drug complexes, perform solvent-free coating, and obtain drug loading in organic and inorganic excipients. He developed a platform known as Solid Core Drug Delivery System (SCDDS) for the oral delivery of biomolecules to ensure the safe passage of the active to the lower intestine and provide sustained release. Vivek has also been working on the nasal delivery of small and large molecules via non-aqueous matrices to avoid issues related to aqueous sprays. One of his current industrial projects involves the development of nasal formulations for the nose-to-brain delivery of nucleic acid-based drugs.

Over the years Vivek has worked with various small and large pharmaceutical companies as well as attracted funding from the European Union, Royal Society, and Royal Society of Chemistry, etc to conduct research in the areas summarised above. He has published numerous scientific manuscripts in high-impact journals, and he regularly presents his work at conferences worldwide.