BEIJING & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — EdiGene, Inc., which develops genome editing technologies to accelerate drug discovery and develop novel therapeutics for a broad range of diseases, today announced the appointment of Bo Zhang, Ph.D., as Head of the US Subsidiary, and Kehua Fan, M.D., as Head of Business Development. Both will report to Dr. Dong Wei, CEO of EdiGene.
“Our company and R&D portfolio are entering into an exciting phase, as evidenced by the recent close of Series B financing and submission of the first gene editing product IND in China,” said Dong Wei, Ph.D.，CEO of EdiGene, “Translating cutting-edge gene editing technologies into innovative solutions for patients requires deep internal R&D expertise as well as strong external partnerships. We are delighted to have Dr. Zhang and Dr. Fan join us at this significant stage of growth. Their extensive experience and proven track record in advancing innovative therapies, in addition to strong leadership skills, will help us to strengthen our portfolio and accelerate technology translation to help patients in need.”
Dr. Zhang has around 20 years of experience in research and drug development in both industry and academia in the US. Prior to joining EdiGene, he was Vice President of KLUS Pharma and focused on cell therapy and new technologies. Before that, he was Director of Development at Cobalt Biomedicine leading CAR-T and other cell/gene therapy programs, and R&D Director at OvaScience developing stem cell-based products. Prior to that, he held various oncology research and development positions at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Archemix. Dr. Zhang completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital. He received his B.S. degree from Henan Normal University, M.S. degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ph.D. from University of New Hampshire.
Dr. Kehua Fan has over 15 years of Business Development, Clinical Development of innovative drugs and other healthcare industry experience with MNCs and biotech companies. Before EdiGene, she served as Head of Strategy and Partnership at Junshi Biosciences, in charge of pipeline development strategy focus on oncology, autoimmune and metabolic diseases along with external partnership. Before that, she held positions in business development, clinical development strategy and operation on various therapeutic areas at Quintiles, GSK, Sanofi and Pfizer. She started her career as a General Surgeon at Zhongshan Hospital of Chongqing. She received a master’s degree in Cardiovascular Pharmacology from West China Medical Center of Sichuan University and a bachelor’s degree in Clinical Medicine from Soochow University.
About EdiGene, Inc
EdiGene is a biotechnology company focused on leveraging the cutting-edge genome editing technologies to accelerate drug discovery and develop novel therapeutics for a broad range of genetic diseases and cancer. The company has established its proprietary ex vivo genome-editing platforms for hematopoietic stem cells and T cells, in vivo therapeutic platform based on RNA base editing, and high-throughput genome-editing screening to discover novel targeted therapies. Founded in 2015, EdiGene is headquartered in Beijing, with subsidiaries in Guangzhou, China and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. More information can be found at www.edigene.com.