At the Lenor Zeeh Pharmaceutical Experiment Station, Mark is the Scientific Director in which role he oversees scientific and technical aspects of contract and grant-based programs in drug discovery and development for clients on and off the UW-Madison campus. He supervises Station laboratory staff, provides technical training and serves as faculty for Station-offered short courses in drug development. Mark's scientific interests span the gamut of solution and solid state physical properties of materials pertaining to drug development, which include acid-base dissociation equilibria, solubility, partitioning, solid form generation and characterization, and stability. Mark's main research focus is in water-solid interactions, including hydrate crystal forms, deliquescence, and more generally moisture induced problems in capsule and tablet dosage forms.

Background: Mark Sacchetti earned his Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy, where he worked with Professor George Zografi, studying viscoelastic properties of monolayers at the air-water interface. Since graduating, Mark has worked in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Mark started his industrial career at GlaxoSmithKline (then Glaxo), where he developed formulations of inhaled powders, and subsequently applied his passion for physical chemistry to the physicochemical characterization of NCEs and excipients used in oral and parenteral dosage forms. At GSK, Mark reached the position of Manager of Physical Properties & Developability, where his group examined the physical properties of materials, developed and validated methods, and set appropriate specifications when needed for processing and product performance. Mark worked at Genentech for a short time, helping to establish their small molecule preformulation/formulation group.

In his educational role at the School of Pharmacy, Mark teaches two courses in drug development through Extension Services.  The courses encompass the relevance of physicochemical properties of drugs and excipients to lead optimization, candidate selection and formulation development. Mark also teaches stability of drugs as part of an undergraduate course, and he gives lectures on moisture sorption and industrial aspects of the solid state to graduate students.  Finally, Mark works with undergraduate and graduate students to provide practical laboratory training in pharmaceutical development problem solving through work on industrial projects, using state-of-the-art equipment.

• M. Sacchetti and E. Nejati, Prediction of drug solubility in lipid mixtures from the individual ingredients, AAPS PharmSciTech, 13(4), 1103-1109 (2012).
• K. J. Dawson, K. L. Kearns, M. D. Ediger, G. D. Zografi and M. J. Sacchetti, Highly stable indomethacin glasses resist uptake of water vapor, J. Phys. Chem. B, 113, 2422-2427 (2009).
• X. He, K. A. Lunday, L. Li and M. J. Sacchetti, Formulation development and process scale up of a high shear wet granulation formulation containing a poorly wettable drug, J. Pharm. Sci., 97, 5274-5289 (2008).
• M. Sacchetti, The nitrogen adsorption isotherm of α-lactose monohydrate, Pharm. Dev. Technol., 11, 351-358 (2006).
• H. Zhu and M. Sacchetti, Solubilization and solid state characterization of a poorly soluble 5-α reductase inhibitor, Drug Dev. Ind. Pharm., 30, 573-580 (2004).
• M. Sacchetti, Determining the relative physical stability of anhydrous and hydrous crystal forms of GW2016, Int. J. Pharm., 273, 195-202 (2004).
• M. S. McClure, M. H. Osterhout, F. Roschangar, and M. J. Sacchetti, Quinazoline ditosylate salt compounds, Patent Publication Application No. US 2003/0220354 A1, publication date 27Nov2003.
• H. Zhu and M. Sacchetti, Solid state characterization of a neuromuscular blocking agent - GW280430A, Int. J. Pharm., 234, 19-23 (2002).
• M. Sacchetti, P. G. Varlashkin, S. T. Long, and R. W. Lancaster, Crystal structure prediction for eniluracil, J. Pharm. Sci., 90, 1049-1055 (2001).
• M. Sacchetti, The general form of the Gibbs-Duhem equation for multiphase/multicomponent systems and its application to solid state activity measurements, J. Chem. Educ., 78, 260 (2001).
• M. Sacchetti, Thermodynamic analysis of DSC data for acetaminophen polymorphs, J. Thermal Anal. Cal., 63, 345-350 (2001).
• M. Sacchetti, General equations for in situ salt screening of multibasic drugs in multiprotic acids, Pharm. Dev. Technol., 5, 579-582 (2000).
• M. Sacchetti, S. Dwivedi, M. Van Oort, and W. L. Roberts, Metering apparatus, International patent number WO 97/44080, US patent number 6,076,522, issued 20Jun00.
• M. Sacchetti, Thermodynamic analysis of moisture sorption isotherms, J. Pharm. Sci., 87, 982-986 (1998).
• M. Van Oort and M. Sacchetti, Process and device for inhalation of particulate medicaments, International patent number WO 97/36574, issued 09Oct97.
• M. Sacchetti and M. Van Oort, Spray drying and supercritical fluid particle generation techniques, Chapter 11, in "Physical and Biological Basis for Inhalation Aerosol Therapy," A. Hickey (ed.), Lung Physiology Series, Marcel Dekker, NY, 1996.
• M. Sacchetti, H. Yu and G. Zografi, Hydrodynamic coupling of monolayers with subphase, J. Chem. Phys., 99, 563-566 (1993).
• M. Sacchetti, H. Yu and G. Zografi, A canal surface viscometer for the in-plane steady shear viscosity of monolayers at the air/water interface, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 64, 1941-1946 (1993).
• M. Sacchetti, H. Yu and G. Zografi, In-plane steady shear viscosity of monolayers at the air-water interface and its dependence on free area, Langmuir, 9, 2168-2171 (1993).
• M. Sacchetti, In-plane steady shear viscosity of monolayers at the air-water interface, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI (1992).
• M.J. Sacchetti, Design and construction of a surface viscometer, M.S. Thesis, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI (1990).