PharmaBlock Appoints CTO

PharmaBlock Sciences announced the appointment of Dr. Shijie Zhang as chief technology officer. Shijie joins the company from Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was director of Process Chemistry and API Manufacturing, CMC.

Dr. Shijie Zhang brings over 20 years of combined experience in medicinal chemistry, process chemistry, and API manufacturing. Before joining PharmaBlock, he led the CMC API team at Agios for the two FDA-approved therapies (Idhifa®, Tibsovo®), by managing and overseeing API development programs and manufacturing activities spanning from preclinical stage to commercial stage, and preparing API sections of regulatory filing documents, including IND, IMPD, NDA, and briefing documents.

“We are thrilled to welcome Shijie on board, and he is truly a key addition to our leadership team,” said Dr. Minmin Yang, chairman of PharmaBlock. “His unparalleled knowledge and intimate experience in bringing drugs from preclinical stage to commercial makes him the best person to lead our rapidly growing CDMO business, and critical to our future strategies.”

“I am delighted to join PharmaBlock, and I have witnessed its remarkable and rapid growth. With its strong leadership role in building blocks business, and impressive progress in process chemistry capabilities, PharmaBlock has a solid foundation to win in CDMO business,” said Dr. Shijie Zhang, “I look forward to working with the tremendous team, helping fulfill its commitment to accelerating pharmaceutical innovation from research, to development, to commercial.”