Piyush Agarwal

Seasoned medicinal chemist with 15+ years driving hit-to-lead and lead-optimization programs across pharma and agrochemical sectors. Expert in complex multi-step synthesis, natural product chemistry, and SAR-driven molecular design to accelerate therapeutic development.

Senior Research Scientist - Sygnature Discovery - BioCity, Pennyfoot Street, Nottingham, United Kingdom

(2020-01 - 2026-04)

• Drove hit-to-lead and lead-optimization efforts across multiple drug discovery programs using advanced synthetic chemistry
• Designed and executed multi-step synthesis of complex scaffolds, improving yields and delivering high-purity compounds for SAR milestones
• Collaborated with computational chemists, biologists, and DMPK scientists to integrate chemical insights into cross-functional discovery strategies

Senior Research Scientist - Selection Bioscience Ltd. - Shanghai, China

(2018-05 - 2019-12)

• Led medicinal chemistry efforts designing novel small-molecule CDK inhibitor scaffolds for biological evaluation
• Optimized multi-step synthetic routes, improving yields and delivering high-purity compounds to support lead-optimization workflows
• Partnered with biology teams to align screening data with structure-based design decisions and advance SAR studies

Senior Research Scientist - PI Industries - India

(2016-05 - 2018-04)

• Led total synthesis of natural products including Sarmentine and Thaxtomin A to support fungicidal activity studies
• Optimized multi-step synthetic routes ensuring high-purity compound delivery for biological screening and SAR development
• Supported early-stage agrochemical discovery through cross-functional collaboration and structure–activity relationship analysis

Postdoctoral Fellow (K. C. Nicolaou / Yun He Joint Laboratory) - School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chongqing University - China

(2013-03 - 2016-02)

• Developed BF₃·OEt₂-catalyzed methodology for iminosugar derivatives via acyliminium intermediates, yielding diverse N,O-heterocycles for complex natural product total synthesis programs

Research Scientist - Ranbaxy Research Laboratories - India

(2012-10 - 2013-02)

• Identified, synthesized, and characterized process-related impurities and metabolites using NMR, LC-MS, MS/MS, IR, and HPLC techniques

Research Associate - Jubilant Chemsys Pvt. Ltd. - Noida, India

(2007-03 - 2007-12)

• Synthesized benzothiazole analogues targeting bacterial DNA gyrase; supervised four M.Sc. chemists across multi-step antibacterial discovery projects

Research Associate - Chembiotek Research International Pvt. Ltd. - Kolkata, India

(2005-08 - 2007-02)

• Executed gram-to-kilogram-scale multi-step synthesis of natural products and drug candidates; led a team of three M.Sc. chemists across medicinal chemistry programs

Project Assistant, Natural Product Chemistry - Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) - India

(2004-02 - 2005-05)

• Elucidated bioactive taxoids from Taxus wallichiana, synthesized Taxotere analogues, and developed an improved HPLC purification method for bioactive constituents

Ph.D. - Medicinal and Synthetic Chemistry - Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) (2008 - 2012)

Master's degree - Organic Chemistry - University of Lucknow (2003 - 2003)

Bachelor's degree - Chemistry, Zoology, and Botany - University of Lucknow (2000 - 2000)