Fulian Pharmaceuticals Appoints Dr. Steffen Heeger as Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Fa Liu as Chief Scientific Officer

2January 17, 2023, Mannheim, Germany; New Jersey, USA; and Shanghai, China: RadLink Medical Technology Co., Ltd.Today, the appointment of Dr. Steffen Heeger as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Dr. Liu Fa as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) was announced. Dr. Heeger has held senior clinical development roles in oncology at large multinational pharmaceutical companies and emerging biopharmaceutical firms for over 15 years. His work has not only contributed to Erbitux^®(Erbitux), a monoclonal therapeutic antibody targeting EGFR, played a crucial role in its development, as well as in the successful clinical development of other anticancer therapeutic antibodies, including antibody-drug conjugates. Dr. Liu is a leading peptide chemist who previously served as the head of the chemistry team at Novo Nordisk US. He founded Focus-X in 2020 and serves as its CEO. Focus-X is a radiopharmaceutical company specializing in peptides, which was recently acquired by Focal Pharma.

Mr. Sun Peiqi, Co-founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Executive Officer of Fulian Medicinestated: "Dr. HeegerHe has brought his extensive expertise to Fuliang Pharmaceutical and achieved remarkable success in formulating and executing clinical development strategies for targeted therapies in both early- and late-stage oncology. His appointment has accelerated the company’s plan to advance its first batch of targeted radiopharmaceuticals into clinical trials.Dr. Liu“With a highly successful 18-year career in therapeutic drug discovery, he led Focus-X to rapidly establish a promising radiopharmaceutical pipeline within just two years of its founding. His arrival will further strengthen our capabilities in the Radionuclide Drug Conjugate (RDC) platform and therapeutic drug discovery. We are honored to have such an outstanding executive join our team.”

Dr. Steffen Heeger

Dr. Steffen HeegerHe began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck KGaA in Germany, where he spent nine years working on Erbitux^®(a monoclonal antibody therapeutic targeting EGFR). Following his tenure at Merck KGaA, he joined MorphoSys, where he served as Vice President and Head of Clinical Development for five years. During this period, he led the clinical development of multiple therapeutic monoclonal antibodies targeting various cancer antigens, including PSMA, CD38, and CD19; the development of the anti-CD19 antibody contributed to the advancement of Monjuvi.^®(tafacitamab-cxix) was approved for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, marking the first registration-enabling drug developed clinically by MorphoSys. Following his tenure at MorphoSys, Dr. Heeger served as Chief Medical Officer at Selvita, S.A., where he guided the company’s first anticancer compound through Investigational New Drug (IND) approval and initiated early-stage clinical trials. Subsequently, Dr. Heeger joined NBE Therapeutics to lead the IND submission and launch of the first-in-human clinical trial for NBE-002, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting solid tumors and lymphomas. NBE Therapeutics was later acquired by Boehringer Ingelheim for $1.5 billion. Prior to joining Folia Pharma, Dr. Heeger served as Chief Medical Officer at Pega-One, a clinical-stage oncology company that merged into Centessa Pharmaceuticals and completed its initial public offering (IPO) on NASDAQ in 2021. Dr. Heeger holds a Doctor of Medicine degree and a Master’s degree in Healthcare Management from Heidelberg University in Germany. He received his training as a clinical oncologist in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Heidelberg University Hospital and at the German Cancer Research Center.

Dr. Liu Fa

Prior to founding Focus-X, Dr. Liu Fa served as the Head of the Chemistry Team at the Novo Nordisk Research Center in the United States, where he led the development of peptide and protein therapeutics. Previously, Dr. Liu was the Head of Chemistry at Calibrium LLC, playing a pivotal role in building the company’s R&D pipeline prior to its acquisition by Novo Nordisk. Before that, Dr. Liu began his R&D career at Eli Lilly and Company, where he led the optimization of peptide lead compounds and established what is now recognized as modern insulin chemistry. Prior to joining Eli Lilly, Dr. Liu worked at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, focusing on cancer drug discovery. Dr. Liu has identified numerous developable candidates in human studies, several of which have advanced into clinical trials, including NNC0480-0389 (Phase II). He also contributed to the discovery of LY3209590 (Phase III) and the FDA-approved drug Lyumjev.^®(Lispro insulin). He received his Ph.D. from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Fulian Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (“Fulian Pharma”) is a fully integrated, international radiopharmaceutical company with offices in China, Europe, and the United States. We are committed to building a nuclear medicine company with a complete industry chain encompassing the research and development, manufacturing, and commercialization of radiopharmaceuticals, thereby benefiting patients worldwide. We plan to address the core challenges currently affecting radiopharmaceutical R&D through innovative research focused on future therapeutic approaches. Our team comprises seasoned entrepreneurs and scientists who excel not only in managing biopharmaceutical companies but also possess deep expertise in the research and clinical development of radioisotopes.