Sarfaraz Khan Niazi (Urdu: óñÃÂñçò îçàÃÂÃÂçòÃÂ; born 1949) is a Pakistani-American academic with an expertise in pharmaceutical sciences. He is an expert in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and has worked in academia, industry, and as an entrepreneur. He has written books in pharmaceutical sciences, biotechnology, consumer healthcare, and poetry. He has translated ghazals (love poems) of the Urdu poet Ghalib.
Niazi was born on 10 July 1949 in Lucknow in India, and moved to Karachi with his parents in 1962. His father was Niaz Fatehpuri, a scholar of religion and literature in Pakistan and India.
Niazi earned a Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the University of Karachi in 1969. In 1970, he moved to the United States, where he obtained his Master of Science degree in pharmaceutical sciences in 1971 from Washington State University in Pullman, WA, and then moved to Illinois. In 1974, he obtained his doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
From 1972 to 1988, he taught at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and continues to serve as Adjunct Professor of Biopharmaceutical Sciences. From 1988 to 1996, he worked for Abbott Laboratories as its director of technical affairs; at the same time, he was a professor of pharmacology at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi. In 1997, he established his own consulting business, known as Pharmaceutical Scientist, Inc. In 2003, he founded Therapeutic Proteins, Inc. to develop biosimilar versions of biopharmaceuticals, such as filgrastim, erythropoietin, interferon, Pegfilgrastim, adalimumab, and other monoclonal antibodies.
In 2002, Niazi published the first complete translation of the ghazals of Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, known as "Ghalib" and another in 2009. In 2023, Niazi published the first complete English translation of Ghalib's Persian love poems with Mariam Tawoosi
Niazi's primary research subject is the field of biosimilars. He has published multiple books on the subject and peer-reviewed research papers that advise developers on how to secure a faster approval of biosimilars by the FDA and EMA and suggest changes to harmonize approval guidelines.
On 14 August 2012, the Government of Pakistan announced that President Asif Ali Zardari would be awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz in Engineering Science to Sarfaraz.