Former Merck China Translational Medicine Head Joins Sihex Gene as Chief Translational Science Officer

Former Head of Merck's Translational Medicine in China, Yue Huang, Joins SicaGene.

Yesterday, SicaGene's official WeChat account announced that Huang Yue, the former head of translational medicine at Merck China, has officially joined SicaGene as the Chief Translational Science Officer (CTO). Huang will be fully responsible for the preclinical and clinical development of SicaGene's self-innovated antisense oligonucleotide drug research projects.

Huang Yue holds a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy from Beijing Medical University, a Ph.D. in Pharmacokinetics from the University of Minnesota in the United States, and has 22 years of experience in R&D management within the innovative drug industry. From 2020 to 2021, he served as Executive Director at Simcere Pharmaceutical and was responsible for planning and establishing the Beijing Translational Science Platform, overseeing the implementation and progress of Phase III clinical trials for the innovative drug pipeline. Prior to this, Huang Yue worked at Merck Serono for approximately five years as the Global Head of Translational Medicine and Global Head of Early Development, leading decision-making for China projects within the global pipeline and providing support for external BD collaboration decisions.

SicaGene is a biotechnology company that was just established last year. It focuses on antisense oligonucleotide technology and currently has multiple pipelines in progress targeting metabolism, oncology, and central nervous system diseases, which are precisely the areas of expertise of Huang Yue.

Frequent Talent Flow in the Biotech Industry

In recent years, an increasing number of senior executives from multinational pharmaceutical companies and overseas talents have focused their attention on China's local Biotech industry.

In August this year, Brii Biosciences announced that Eleanor (Ellee) de Groot would serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, and Aleksandar Skuban as the Head of the Central Nervous System Disease Therapeutic Area. Both executives have many years of overseas experience.

On August 8, Caroline Germa, the newly appointed Executive Vice President of Global Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer of Transcenta Holding, also has an overseas background.

Last month, Luo Yongqing became the CEO and Executive Director of Everest Medicines. Previously, he served as Global Vice President of Gilead Sciences and General Manager of its China branch.

According to statistics from E Pharmacy Manager, in 2021, 12 local pharmaceutical companies in China introduced high-end overseas talents. Among them, there were six Chief Medical Officers; one Chief Financial Officer, one Development Officer, one Operations Officer, one Business Development Director, and two Vice Presidents and Presidents.

As Biotech continues to expand its business territory, the talent gap is growing larger, and talent mobility will persist.

References:

[1] SicaGene: "Breaking News! Dr. Yue Huang, Former Head of Translational Medicine at Merck China, Joins SicaGene as Chief Translational Science Officer"

[2] E Pharm Exec: "AZ, Novartis Personnel 'Swapped', Local Pharma Leaders Resign, Biotech Continues Global 'Talent Grab' | August Personnel Movement Roundup"

Editor: Dadasiva

Disclaimer: This article is a reprint from Yaozhi.com. The images and text are the property of the original author, and the purpose of the reprint is to convey more information, which does not represent the views of this platform. If there are any issues regarding the content, copyright, or other aspects, please leave a message on this platform, and we will delete it immediately.