OUR LEADERSHIP

Lieming Ding, M.D, Chairman of the Board

Lieming Ding, M.D., serves as Chairman of the Board at Xcovery. Dr. Ding currently is also the chairman and CEO of Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. He returned to China from US in 2002 to start Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd, a company focusing on research and development of innovative drugs. In August 2011, Betta Pharmaceutical launched icotinib (Conmana), the first targeted therapy developed in China for non-small cell lung cancer, which is a milestone for the Chinese anticancer industry. In 2012 and 2014, the WIPO and SIPO of China issued Gold award to icotinib for its two invention patents. Icotinib won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2016, which is 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 industry sector. To date, icotinib has a total sales revenue of over 3.4 billion RMB and has benefited more than 100,000 patients. Dr. Ding’s accomplishment in Chinese pharmaceutical industry has won him numerous honors, such as distinguished expert of All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, Deputy of the 12th National Peoples’ Congress, key member of Chinese National Key Special Program of Innovative Drugs, and Chairman of China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association (PhIRDA).
Dr. Ding completed his resident training in pathology at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Chris Liang, Ph.D., EVP and Chief Scientific Officer

Chris Liang, Ph.D., is the co-founder 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. Dr. Liang is co-developer of Sutent®, an FDA approved multi-kinase inhibitor for resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors, advanced renal cell carcinoma, and advanced, progressive, well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, which he developed while serving as director of medicinal chemistry at SUGEN. SUGEN and Sutent® were acquired by Pfizer. Additionally, Dr. Liang served as director of medicinal chemistry at Scripps Research Institute in 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 of toxicity in existing multi-kinase inhibitors. Dr. Liang holds a Ph.D. in theoretical chemistry from Princeton University.

Fenlai Tan, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer

Fenlai Tan, M.D., Ph.D., is the Chief Medical Officer of Xcovery. He is responsible for the clinical development of Xcovery’s improved kinase inhibitors. Dr. Tan has been involved in drug development for decades and is especially experienced in clinical study design and implementation for small molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs. Dr. Tan joined Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd as VP and CMO in 2007 where he successfully led the phase I, II, III and IV clinical trials of icotinib (an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor) for the treatment of advanced NSCLC harboring EGFR mutation. In 2011, icotinib (Conmana), as the first home-grown anti-cancer targeted drug, was approved by CFDA and launched in China. A comment titled “Icotinib: kick-starting the Chinese anti-cancer drug industry” was published together with the clinical data of the icotinib phase III study (ICOGEN) on the prestigious medical journal, Lancet Oncology.
In addition, Dr. Tan oversees the clinical development (phase I-III clinical studies) of many other innovative drugs at Betta in the field of oncology, diabetes, dermatology, ophthalmology, etc. He and his team have conducted more than 30 clinical studies during the past ten years.

Dr. Tan obtained his M.D. from XiangYa School of Medicine and also holds a Ph.D. in medical physiology from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Cleveland Clinic and Medical School of University of Michigan. He is a clinician and a leading biomedical scientist who has authored more than 40 scientific publications and secured more than 20 patents.