CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Appoints Acting Chief Scientific Officer

BEIJING and SHANGHAI, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative drug candidates to treat underserved medical conditions in China and other markets, has appointed Richard J. Gregory, PhD to the position of Acting Chief Scientific Officer. Dr.Gregory will also join the CANbridge Board of Directors. Both positions are effective immediately. In addition, Lefei Sun, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare for China at General Atlantic, and Derek DiRocco, PhD, Principal, RA Capital Management, have recently joined the Board of Directors, bringing the total number of Board members to eleven.

"Dr. Gregory brings to CANbridge a depth of industry experience in discovery and translational research, which along with his vision and pioneering work in developing global rare and orphan disease therapies, will deepen our C-level suite and set us up for success as we build our integrated R&D platforms and capabilities," said James Xue, PhD, Founder, Chairman and CEO, CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc.."CANbridge recently received Priority Review from China's National Medical Products Administration for its first rare disease candidate, Hunterase®, and has a robust best-in-class pipeline entering into the clinical stage. Dr. Gregory will help us solidify and expand our leadership position as a China-focused global player. We are also pleased to welcome Rich, Lefei and Derek to the Board, where their respective areas of expertise will provide synergistic strengths as CANbridge moves forward."

Dr. Gregory has a long and distinguished career in research and discovery and pharmaceutical industry leadership. Most recently, he was Executive VP and Chief Scientific Officer at ImmunoGen Inc., in Waltham, MA, where he was responsible for research leading to new antibody-based cancer therapeutics.  Prior to joining ImmunoGen, Dr. Gregory was Head of the Sanofi-Genzyme R&D Center, in Cambridge, MA, where he oversaw R&D in rare diseases, multiple sclerosis, immune disorders and tissue protection/regenerative medicine.  Before then, Dr. Gregory held a variety of positions at Genzyme Corporation, in Framingham, MA, including: Senior Vice President, Head of Research, where he was responsible for early R&D in all therapeutic areas at Genzyme and Vice President, Gene Therapy, where he directed programs in cancer immunotherapy, gene therapies for genetic diseases and cardiovascular gene therapy.   Dr. Gregory started his professional career at Genzyme Corporation as a Research Scientist in Molecular Biology, where his group was the first to express the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and determine the molecular defect caused by the most common mutation of CFTR.

Dr. Gregory has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and holds 23 patents in the area of biotechnology.  He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Dr. Gregory holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), in Blacksburg, VA, and a PhD in Biochemistry, from the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, MA.

Lefei Sun is Managing Director and Head of Healthcare for China at General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, where he is responsible for sourcing and leading investments in the Healthcare and Life Sciences space across the region. Lefei serves as a Director on the Boards of Hong Kong Asia Medical Holding Limited, Adagene INC., and Ocumension Therapeutics. Before joining General Atlantic in 2018, Lefei was the Founding Partner of HuaTai Healthcare Investment Fund and played instrumental roles in the firm's investments in Shenzhen Mindray Medical, a company listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange (stock code: 300760), and Shanghai MicroPort CardioFlow Medtech, where he previously served as a Board Observer. Prior to that, Lefei was the China healthcare equity analyst at Credit Suisse and one of the founding team members of OrbiMed Asia. 

Lefei received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and a Master of Arts in Neuroscience from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD.

Derek DiRocco, PhD, is a Principal on the Investment Team at RA Capital Management, working in both public and private investments. Previously, Derek covered solid tumor oncology competitive landscapes.  He also serves as a Director on the Boards of Achilles Therapeutics Limited, 89Bio Inc. and iTeos Therapeutics.  He serves as a Board Observer at Xenikos B.V., SutroVax Inc., and Frontier Medicines, and was also a former Board Observer at Peloton Therapeutics, which was acquired by Merck.

Derek holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Holy Cross College, in Worcester, MA, and a Doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of Washington, in Seattle, WA. He conducted his postdoctoral research at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School, in Boston, MA, where he researched the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in mouse models of kidney disease, and was part of the team that discovered the stem cell subtype responsible for solid organ fibrosis.

About CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc.

CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a China-focused biopharmaceutical company accelerating development and commercialization of specialty healthcare products for orphan diseases and targeted cancers, focusing on products that are unavailable or address medical needs that are underserved in the region.

CANbridge has been recognized as a leader in orphan diseases in China. It has a global partnership with WuXi Biologics to develop and commercialize proprietary therapeutics for the treatment of rare genetic diseases. In greater China, it has an exclusive licensing agreement to commercialize Hunterase®, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of Hunter syndrome, developed by GC Pharma and marketed in more than ten countries worldwide. CANbridge also has an oncology portfolio, which includes exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Puma Biotechnology's NERLYNX® (neratinib), in greater China, as well as rights to other novel candidates.

For more on CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc., please go to www.canbridgepharma.com.

Contact:

CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc.
James Xue  
CEO
+8610.8414.8018
781.995.0074

Media
Deanne Eagle
Planet Communications
[email protected] 
917.837.5866

SOURCE CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc.

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