About Us

Lieming Ding, M.D., serves as Chairman of the Board at Xcovery and is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Betta Pharmaceuticals Co, Ltd, a company focusing on research and development of innovative drugs, which he founded upon his return to China from the United States in 2002. In August 2011, Betta Pharmaceuticals launched icotinib (Conmana), the first targeted therapy developed in China for non-small cell lung cancer, which was a milestone for the Chinese anticancer industry. In 2012 and 2014, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the State Intellectual Property Office of China issued the Gold Award for Chinese Outstanding Patented Invention to icotinib for its 2 patent programs. Icotinib then won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Awards in 2016, which was the first time that the chemical and pharmaceutical industry won the prize. In the same year, icotinib also won the China Industry Award, the top accolade of the industry sector. To date, icotinib has a total sales revenue of over ¥5 billion ($46 million USD) and has benefited more than 100,000 patients. Dr. Ding’s accomplishments in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry have won him numerous honors, such as distinguished expert of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, Deputy of the 12th National People’s Congress, key member of Chinese National Key Special Program of Innovative Drugs, and Chairman of the China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association. Dr. Ding completed his resident training in pathology at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Prior to joining Xcovery, Dr. Mao was the Vice President and Head of the Johnson & Johnson China Lung Cancer Center. Before that, Dr. Mao served as a professor and Chair of the Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences and as Associate Dean for Research at the University of Maryland, in Baltimore. Dr. Mao has also served as Leader of the Experimental Cancer Therapeutics Program at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Previously, Dr. Mao was a professor in the Department of Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, Texas, and he currently serves as an adjunct professor. Dr. Mao has played a critical role in a number of landmark multi-institution research programs and has authored and coauthored more than 200 peer-reviewed articles that have been cited more than 24,000 times.

Dr. Selvaggi held positions of increasing responsibility at various global pharmaceutical companies prior to joining Xcovery. Dr. Selvaggi joined the pharmaceutical industry in 2010 as Medical Director in the MAGE-A3 lung cancer vaccine program at GSK. He then played an instrumental role in the successful development and registration of ceritinib (Zykadia) in ALK-translocated non-small cell lung cancer at Novartis. Most recently, Dr. Selvaggi was a part of the immunotherapy team at Bristol-Myers Squibb, serving as a program lead in different thoracic malignancies, with a focus on small cell lung cancer. Dr. Selvaggi received his medical degree at the University of Torino School of Medicine, in Torino, Italy, in 1992 and served as staff physician of thoracic oncology at the University Hospital in Torino, participating in several clinical trials in lung cancer and mesothelioma over a span of 16 years.

Chris Liang, Ph.D., is a cofounder of Xcovery. He is a leading scientist in the design of protein kinase inhibitors who has authored more than 40 scientific publications and secured more than 50 patents. While serving as Director of Medicinal Chemistry at SUGEN, Dr. Liang codeveloped sunitinib malate (Sutent), an FDA-approved multikinase inhibitor for resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors; advanced renal cell carcinoma; and advanced, progressive, well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. SUGEN and Sutent were later acquired by Pfizer. Additionally, Dr. Liang served as Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida, before starting Xcovery. Dr. Liang’s research focuses on the design of protein kinase inhibitors by combining computational modeling, medicinal chemistry, and broad knowledge in other areas of drug discovery. His recent work has focused on the reduction with toxicity in existing multikinase inhibitors. Dr. Liang holds a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from Princeton University.