Former CSO of 3SBio, Dr. Zhenping Zhu, Joins Helixon as President and Co-CEO to Advance AI-Driven Drug Discovery
Helixon
AI Technology New Drug Developer
Source: Yidu Medicine
Looking globally, AI is profoundly transforming human life. How this emerging technology empowers new drug development has become one of the most closely watched focal points in the biopharmaceutical field. After experiencing the brilliance and hype of 2021, China’s AI-driven pharmaceutical sector entered a more rational phase in 2022: frequent transaction orders emerged, and product pipelines advanced into clinical stages…
At the beginning of 2023, the AI pharmaceuticals industry became restless.Insilico MedicineThe First AI-Discovered Antifibrotic Candidate Drug for a Novel Target in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Achieves Positive Topline Data in Phase 1 Clinical Trials.HelixonHelixon Brings in Senior New Drug R&D Scientists to Deeply Integrate AI and Biopharmaceutical Research.
Zhenping Zhu Joins Helixon
On February 7, Helixon, a leading artificial intelligence pharmaceutical company in China, announced,Dr. Zhenping Zhu, a senior scientist in the field of new drug development, has recently joined the company as a co-founder, and will serve as President and Co-CEO.He will be responsible for the R&D of innovative drugs and the advancement of the product pipeline, strategy formulation and operations at Helixon, and will promote the company's development in China and globally.
Helixon Focuses on the Development of a New Generation of AI-Driven Large Molecule Drug Modeling and Design Platforms. Its Self-Developed Antibody Intelligent Design Platform Has Been Evaluated and Recognized by Several Internationally Renowned Pharmaceutical Companies, and Collaborative Development on Multiple Key Projects Has Already Begun. With the Addition of Zhenping Zhu, Helixon Will Accelerate the Establishment of an Internal Drug Research and Development Team and Proprietary Pipeline, Promote the Deep Integration of Artificial Intelligence Platforms in Innovative Drug Development, and Develop Next-Generation Biological Therapeutics.
Public information shows that Zhu Zhenping has 38 years of experience in biopharmaceutical R&D, including 30 years of experience in research and management at multinational pharmaceutical companies in the United States, Europe, and China. He has participated in and led the development of multiple therapeutic antibody drugs approved for marketing by the FDA, EMA, and NMPA.
He once served as the Executive Vice President of Kadmon Pharmaceuticals in New York, USA,Novartis SwitzerlandGlobal Vice President of Biologics Research and Development at Novartis, and Vice President of Research and Development at ImClone Systems in New York, USA. Before joining Helixon, Zhenping Zhu held various positions including...3SBioDirector of Pharma and R&D Leader, President of Group R&D and Chief Scientific Officer of 3SBio Inc.
In terms of academic contributions, he is not only an expert in anti-tumor drugsThe patent inventors of ramucirumab (Cyramza, Ramucirumab) and necitumumab (Portrazza, Necitumumab), and one of the main contributors to cetuximab (Erbitux), has led the invention and development of more than 20 innovative products that have entered Phase I-III clinical trials in the US, Europe, and China. Additionally, he has published over 200 academic papers in international journals and has applied for or obtained more than 150 patents in the US, China, Europe, and other international regions.
Regarding the joining of Zhenping Zhu, Jian Peng, founder and CEO of Helixon, stated that Dr. Zhenping Zhu has extensive experience and an outstanding track record in innovative drug development and corporate management, having participated in and led the R&D of various therapeutic antibody products approved for marketing in both the United States and China. As a world-class senior expert, Dr. Zhu's addition will bring global vision and top-tier biopharmaceutical R&D and pharmaceutical industry experience to Helixon. Under Dr. Zhu’s leadership, Helixon will continue to focus on the development and iteration of its AI platform, addressing challenges in large molecule drug discovery, advancing the progress of innovative drug pipelines, and striving to meet patients' clinical needs as soon as possible.
Coincidentally, before Zhu Zhenping, on May 13, 2022,Former CSO of I-Mab, Taylor Guo Bingshi, left I-Mab in April 2022 to officially join neoX Biotech, where he serves as the company's CSO.neoX, established in 2018, is a biotech company that integrates artificial intelligence (AI), biophysics, and high-throughput experiments to innovate in the research and development of biomacromolecules and multi-specificity molecular drugs. The company’s pipeline primarily focuses on the fields of oncology and immunotherapy.
It is reported that Dr. Taylor Guo Bingshi is a Ph.D. in Immunology from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, with ten years of senior research experience in biology (Shanghai Institute of Health Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, USA). He has been engaged in research on the molecular mechanisms of cellular immunity and immune rejection, endocrine andrology, and signal transduction of cell proliferation and apoptosis. During his eight-year tenure at GlaxoSmithKline's R&D center in China, he was responsible for the development of multiple globally innovative projects and has rich experience in early-stage R&D, preclinical research, international clinical research, and CRO management.
Why Did 3SBio's Former CSO Choose AI Drug Discovery?
As a senior R&D scientist in innovative drug companies, why choose to join an AI pharmaceutical company?Zhu Zhenping stated that in recent years, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmaceutical innovation has made significant progress, with the potential to greatly enhance the efficiency of new drug development in traditional pharmaceutical companies.Helixon's artificial intelligence team has developed platform technology to address the main pain points in large molecule drug discovery and design, which will unleash great potential for drug development targeting new and difficult-to-drug targets, as well as for novel biologic drug molecule design.
In Zhu Zhenping's view, joining Helixon offers a fresh opportunity, different from his many years of R&D experience, to leverage artificial intelligence technology to empower the exploration of innovative drug development and achieve breakthroughs——By deeply integrating artificial intelligence with biopharmaceutical research and development, more innovative drugs that meet clinical needs for human diseases can be developed.。
Zhu Zhenping's choice to join an AI pharmaceutical company is closely related to the overall prosperity of the industry. Some institutions believe that 2020 was the breakthrough year for global AI pharmaceuticals. In that year, AI pharmaceutical companies achieved significant breakthroughs in the primary market and R&D technology.
In 2021, this global trend sparked a wave of financing in China. According to incomplete statistics, there were 34 financing events in China's AI pharmaceuticals sector in 2021, with a total financing amount of 8.345 billion yuan. Even in 2022, when the biopharmaceutical market faced a capital winter, although the financing amount for AI pharmaceutical companies was halved, the frequency of financing did not decrease significantly. According to Yicai Research Institute, that year the AI pharmaceuticals field achieved financing 27 times, mainly concentrated in the early stages, primarily before the A+ round.
Particularly noteworthy is the recognition of AI drug development by traditional pharmaceutical companies. As one commentary put it, "2022 was the year when digital technology and biopharmaceuticals accelerated their integration." The top 10 orders in the global AI pharmaceuticals field are almost monopolized by multinational pharmaceutical giants. Among them, Sanofi and Eli Lilly each made three moves, and in terms of single investment amounts, Sanofi took the lead with a $5.3 billion investment.
On this list, the Chinese AI pharmaceutical company Insilico Medicine is prominently featured.Data with a total potential value of up to $1.2 billion also becomes the largest order in China's AI pharmaceuticals field.According to the agreement between both parties, Sanofi will utilize Insilico Medicine's AI-driven Pharma.AI drug discovery platform to advance the research and development of candidate drugs based on no more than six innovative targets.
All this might just be the prelude to China's AI pharmaceuticals sector. As more product pipelines enter clinical trials, or even commercialization, both internet giants and traditional large pharmaceutical companies are likely to actively embrace AI drug development. That will be the true spring for this industry.
Editor: Chang Fuqiang