On October 16, 2021, Haichang Biotech announced the appointment of Dr. Yang Yongsheng as the Senior Vice President & President of the Nucleic Acid Medicine Innovation Center (NAMIC), who will be responsible for formulating and executing the company's strategies for the research and development of innovative nucleic acid drugs, promoting international cooperation and providing support for the CEO in efficiently implementing the company's strategies.
Dr. Yang has previously served as the vice president of R&D affairs and the chief scientist of Baheal Pharma Group before joining Haichang Biotech, and he was responsible for the R&D, registration and quality related activities. Having worked for 16 years in the US FDA, he was successively a senior pharmacologist in the Product Quality Research Department under CDER and a senior bioequivalence review officer in the Office of Generic Drugs (OGD), conducting research and evaluation on the biopharmaceutics and drug quality of new drugs and generic drugs, and reviewing the bioequivalence study results of complex preparations such as liposomes and locally acting drugs. He has been awarded the Award for Distinguished Service by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. From 1997 to 2002, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, USA, and was mainly engaged in the research on gene therapy, in which GalNAc-modified liposomes and glycopeptides were used for gene-based delivery. He has accumulated extensive experience in the construction of delivery system, screening and optimization of drug formulation and manufacturing process, analysis and evaluation of the main physicochemical characteristics of drug products, gene expression in vivo and in vitro, as well as tissue distribution and their pharmacokinetics. He obtained his doctor's degree in 1990. During his PhD's study, he carried out research on liposomes used in the new drug delivery system at Nanjing Institute of Materia Medica and was the first scholar engaged in liposome research in China. He has also been a co-author of “Developing Solid Oral Dosage Forms: Pharmaceutical Theory & Practice”and “FDA Bioequivalence Standards”. Dr. Yang Yongsheng was the former president of the American Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.
Dr. Yang Yongsheng:
I am so honored to join Haichang Biotech as the Senior Vice President & President of NAMIC. Nucleic acid drugs have ushered in a new era of thriving development after undergoing the repeated tests of the COVID-19 pandemic. The innovative nucleic acid drug project pipelines of Haichang Biotech are developing at high efficiency and many of its projects are undergoing the key stage of achieving technical breakthrough, and I hope to convert Haichang's cutting-edge scientific technologies into actual medical product with my professional background and rich experience and expertise in the biomedical field, make the share of contributions to the global product development by Haichang, so as to deliver promising medications for patients worldwide.
Dr. Zhao Xiaobin, president of Haichang Biotech:
We are so delighted to have Dr. Yang Yongsheng as a valued member of the company and have him as the leadership of NAMIC at this rapidly developing moment of the company. The joining of Dr. Yang represents another improvement for Haichang’s management in the R&D of innovative nucleic acid drugs. We are deeply convinced that Dr. Yang will surely become a powerful boost in further reinforcing the internal R&D work and innovative capabilities of Haichang Biotech, fully leading the global development of the company's innovative nucleic acid drugs by infusing robustly strong impetus to the company.
About Haichang Biotech
Founded in 2013 by Zhao Xiaobin, a former senior evaluation expert at FDA, Zhejiang Haichang Biotech Co., Ltd is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in the research and development of biomedical technologies. With the core values of “Sharing for All, Enterprising Drive, Pursuit of Truth, Maintaining A Pragmatic Attitude”, the company focuses on the development of pharmaceutical products including mRNA vaccines, RNA drug delivery and liposomal nanodrugs etc. Targeting the international market, the company has been executing the strategy of perfectly combining innovations and generics in the development of drugs for use in tumors, analgesia and anti-infection. The company has set up highly competitive product pipelines and aims to assert itself as an international pharmaceutical company integrating R&D, manufacturing and marketing.
About NAMIC
The “Nucleic Acid Medicine Innovation Center (NAMIC)” under Zhejiang Haichang Biotech Co., Ltd. (referred to as “NAMIC”) focuses on the research and development of innovative nucleic acid drugs and has established the core technology of nucleic acid drug delivery system under global intellectual property right protection--QTsome™. Based on this exclusive advantage, NAMIC has been working continuously to develop an internationally advanced mRNA and small nucleic acid R&D platform. In the meantime, NAMIC has also formed properly overall plans in the biological analysis of nucleic acid structure, nucleic acid drug design, synthesis and modification etc., with the final objective of establishing a fully functioning chain for the development of innovative nucleic acid drugs and setting up a comprehensive nucleic acid drug R&D system featuring complete functions, complementary advantages, seamless connections and international connections. NAMIC has set up laboratory for the design and synthesis of mRNA vaccine and small nucleic acid drugs, laboratory for the design and synthesis of LNP lipid materials, laboratory for nucleic acid drug delivery system, mRNA vaccine laboratory, small nucleic acid drug laboratory as well as supporting laboratories for analysis and evaluation of product quality. In addition, the US branch of NAMIC is currently under construction for the purpose of gathering outstanding international minds and scientific research teams, giving full play to NAMIC's advantages in its specialty and disciplines, enabling an international thinking pattern and vision, so as to develop into an all-round research institute considering execution of innovative nucleic acid drug R&D, achievement of technical breakthrough and performance of talent cultivation as its strategic goal. The product pipelines cover various medical fields and sectors and prioritize the research and development of preventive and therapeutic products such as mRNA vaccines against infectious diseases, tumor-specific mRNA vaccines, small nucleic acid drugs for the treatment of tumors and rare diseases. NAMIC will commit itself to protecting the health of the humankind during its constant pursuit of development and expansion in the booming era of mRNA by relying on the combined advantage of both the Chinese market and the US market in its relentless race with time and by keeping abreast with the era.
