Leadership Team
Management Team
Board of Directors
Scientific Advisory Board
Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD
Prof. of Pathology and Urology at the UMich
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
Dr. Dajun Yang
Chairman of the Board, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
Dajun Yang, Ph.D., is the Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Ascentage Pharma. Dr. Yang has dedicated his career to the research on apoptosis and innovative drug R&D for nearly 30 years. In 2009, he co-founded Ascentage Pharma and made major breakthroughs in the research of development of precision drugs targeting apoptosis and autophagy dual-channel regulation. Ascentage Pharma is the only company in the world that researches and develops innovative drugs targeting all of these pathways. Ascentage Pharma currently has eight potential “First-in-class†or “Best-in-class†innovative drug candidates in Phase I/II clinical developments in China, the United States and Australia. Dr. Yang has undertaken nearly ten National Science and Technology Major Projects such as the National High-tech R&D Program (the “863 Programâ€) and the Major Innovative Drug Developments program. The team led by Dr. Yang has won multiple awards such as the Major Innovation Team of Suzhou and Jiangsu, the First Jiangsu Innovation Competition Team Award, and the R&D Achievement of the Year 2017 from the BayHelix Group. Dr. Yang is the recipient of the 2018 “Dushu Lake Prize†for the Most Influential Leader in Drug R&D， an award widely recognized in the field drug R&D. Dr. Yang was the president of Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association-USA from 2005 to 2006 and has concurrently served as professor and Ph.D. supervisor at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, vice director of the Drug R&D Specialty Committee of China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association, and part-time researcher in Pharmaceutical Innovations at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Yang is the author or co-author of 92 publications and the inventor of 14 patents. He was a co-founder, chief staff writer and editor for two national magazines in China, namely “Chinese Medical Students†and “Family Doctorsâ€. Nowadays “Family Doctors†has a monthly publication volume of over one million and it has the mission to promote both healthcare and a healthy lifestyle in China.
Dr. Yifan Zhai
Chief Medical Officer
Yifan Zhai, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, has over 25 years of experience in cancer research and new drug development. For position with other members of the Group, Dr. Zhai is the director of Healthquest Pharma. Dr. Zhai was a postdoctoral fellow at the surgery branch, National Cancer Institute between 1993 and 1996. She also served as a scientist at Human Genome Sciences Inc., now GSK, between 1996 and 1999; senior research scientist at Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp. between 1999 and 2001; director of the department of pharmacology at Exelixis Inc. between 2001 and 2003; President of HealthQuest Inc. between 2003 and 2005; and chief scientific officer at Oncomax Acquisition Corp. between 2005 and 2007. Dr. Zhai served as executive director of Anaborex (Shanghai) R&D Co., Ltd. between 2007 and 2008. She joined Celladon Corporation as chief scientific officer in 2007 until 2010 and joined Healthquest Pharma as president and chief executive officer. Dr. Zhai was the president of Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association-USA from 2009 to 2010.
Dr. Zhai is the author of more than 27 academic papers. She obtained her Medicine degree (M.D.) from Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences (now renamed as the Sun Yat-sen University), and received her Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Michigan State University.
Mr. Jeffrey Raymond Kmetz
Chief Business Officer
Jeff Kmetz, our Chief Business Officer, has over 25 years of global pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry experience. Throughout his career, Mr. Kmetz has held senior roles with increasing levels of responsibility in marketing, commercial and business development. Most recently, he served as Chief Business Officer at Pulse Biosciences, managing the Oncology development for the company’s Nano-Pulse Stimulation technology. Prior to that, he was Head of Commercial and Business Development along with Strategic Marketing at Pharmacyclics, where he was instrumental in formulating and executing the commercialization and life cycle management of best-in-class BTK inhibitor ibrutinib — the asset which prompted the company’s acquisition by AbbVie for $21 billion in 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Kmetz served as Director of U.S. Hematology Marketing at Alexion and led multiple initiatives in sales and marketing. Before Alexion, Mr. Kmetz was Hematology Business Unit Lead at Bayer, managing its hematology portfolio and brands. Mr. Kmetz holds a B.S. from Virginia Tech.
Mr. Thomas Joseph Knapp
Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Thomas J. Knapp is Senior Vice President, General Counsel of Ascentage Pharma. Mr. Knapp has over 30 years of corporate legal experience, with expertise in the biopharmaceutical sector. He earned his B.A. in Political Science and Business from the University of Illinois-Urbana and a J.D. from Loyola University School of Law.
In his most recent role as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Galena Biopharma, Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company that merged with Sellas Life Sciences Group in 2017. There, Mr. Knapp was responsible for domestic and global legal matters, litigation, corporate governance and compliance and IP matters. Previously, Mr. Knapp was the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Earlier in his career, he served as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at NorthWestern Corporation, was Of Counsel at Paul Hastings and Exemplar Law Partners, LLC and held many legal leadership positions at The Boeing Company and The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Company.
Mr. Gang Zhu
Chief Commercial Officer
Mr. Gang Zhu, Chief Commercial Officer of Ascentage Pharma, graduated from Capital Medical University and worked as a clinician in the early years of his career. With over 25 years of experience at large multinational pharmaceutical companies in China, he played various integral roles in the launch and growth of around 10 oncology brands in the country.
Prior to joining Ascentage Pharma, Mr. Zhu was the General Manager of Celgene China, where he assembled Celgene’s commercial team from the ground up. Prior to that, Mr. Zhu had worked in a range of leadership positions at Sanofi-Aventis and Novartis, including Sales Director, Head of Business Unit, and Vice President. During his tenure at Novartis and Celgene, Mr. Zhu was in charge of the commercial rollouts of numerous hematologic cancer drugs indicated for chronic myeloid leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, etc. Mr. Zhu has a proven track record in building and adapting commercial organizations, as well as designing innovative business models to address unmet medical needs in an ever-evolving market access landscape.
Dr. Dajun Yang
Chairman of the Board, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
Dajun Yang, Ph.D., is the Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Ascentage Pharma. Dr. Yang has dedicated his career to the research on apoptosis and innovative drug R&D for nearly 30 years. In 2009, he co-founded Ascentage Pharma and made major breakthroughs in the research of development of precision drugs targeting apoptosis and autophagy dual-channel regulation. Ascentage Pharma is the only company in the world that researches and develops innovative drugs targeting all of these pathways. Ascentage Pharma currently has eight potential “First-in-class†or “Best-in-class†innovative drug candidates in Phase I/II clinical developments in China, the United States and Australia. Dr. Yang has undertaken nearly ten National Science and Technology Major Projects such as the National High-tech R&D Program (the “863 Programâ€) and the Major Innovative Drug Developments program. The team led by Dr. Yang has won multiple awards such as the Major Innovation Team of Suzhou and Jiangsu, the First Jiangsu Innovation Competition Team Award, and the R&D Achievement of the Year 2017 from the BayHelix Group. Dr. Yang is the recipient of the 2018 “Dushu Lake Prize†for the Most Influential Leader in Drug R&D， an award widely recognized in the field drug R&D. Dr. Yang was the president of Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association-USA from 2005 to 2006 and has concurrently served as professor and Ph.D. supervisor at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, vice director of the Drug R&D Specialty Committee of China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association, and part-time researcher in Pharmaceutical Innovations at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Yang is the author or co-author of 92 publications and the inventor of 14 patents. He was a co-founder, chief staff writer and editor for two national magazines in China, namely “Chinese Medical Students†and “Family Doctorsâ€. Nowadays “Family Doctors†has a monthly publication volume of over one million and it has the mission to promote both healthcare and a healthy lifestyle in China.
Shaomeng Wang, PhD
Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board
Prof. of Medicine at UMich
Shaomeng WANG, PhD, is the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Ascentage Pharma since 2010. Dr. Wang joined the University of Michigan in July 2001 as a tenured faculty and is currently a Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis Professor in Medicine at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he also serves as the co-director of the experimental therapeutics program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center (the Rogel Cancer Center) and director of the Michigan Center for Therapeutic Innovation. Dr. Wang was also appointed as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry since 2011, and was re-appointed to the same role in 2015.
Dr. Wang obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Peking University in July 1986. He received his Ph.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in Chemistry in the United States in January 1993.