Philip Barr

As a graduate student, Dr. Phil Barr invented the antiviral compound Brivudine, which was approved for use in Europe. While Director of Molecular Biology at Chiron (now Novartis) and Adjunct Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at UC San Francisco, Phil headed or worked with teams that used engineered yeast to successfully manufacture yeast-derived recombinant human insulin

(Novolin, Novo Nordisk)and gamma-interferon,(with Lucky Goldstar) the first bio-pharmaceutical approved for use in Asia. He also developed commercial diagnostic antigens for HIV and HCV, and later as Founder, CSO and CEO of Arriva Pharmaceuticals, he spearheaded the development of recombinant human alpha 1-antitrypsin for hereditary emphysema.

Phil has significant industrial scale experience with yeast, including ultra-low cost manufacturing of biofuels and specialty chemicals. He has specialized in the field of polyketide production in yeast. Significantly, the cannabinoids are members of the polyketide family of natural products. Notably he also holds over 50 issued patents, and has authored some 200 papers and book chapters in chemistry, yeast molecular biology and genetic engineering.

Phil holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, has over 30 years of experience in industrial chemistry and molecular biology, and was the primary editor of the first book on commercial yeast genetic engineering.