On June 10, 2021 NiKang Therapeutics Inc. ("NiKang"), a clinical stage biotech company focused on developing innovative small molecule oncology medicines to help patients with unmet medical needs, reported the appointment of Robert (Xiaohua) Xin, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer, reporting to Zhenhai Gao, Ph.D, co-founder, president, and CEO of NiKang (Press release, NiKang Therapeutics, JUN 10, 2021, View Source [SID1234583839]). As a member of the executive leadership team, Dr. Xin will oversee the global clinical development of NiKang’s pipeline and will work closely with the discovery team to prioritize drug targets and formulate strategies.

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"NiKang is on the verge of rapid growth. We are thrilled to welcome Robert at this pivotal time. His successful track record in navigating all stages of clinical development will help us effectively execute our clinical development plans," said Zhenhai Gao. "His in-depth expertise in oncology drug development and strong leadership will be invaluable and instrumental to our patient-focused mission and to the transformation of NiKang into a fully-fledged drug discovery and development company."

Dr. Xin brings to NiKang more than 20 years of experience with an excellent track record of successfully developing novel oncology therapies including small molecules, therapeutic antibodies, antibody drug conjugates and immunotherapies. Previously, Dr. Xin served as SVP, head of clinical development at Turning Point Therapeutics, where he led early and late stage clinical programs for selective small molecule inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. Before Turning Point, he spent 7 years at Pfizer and had served in positions of increasing responsibilities, most recently as interim VP of oncology early clinical development. Prior to Pfizer, Dr. Xin served for 10 years at Genentech/Roche in senior leadership roles in oncology clinical development. His early career experience includes drug discovery and translational medicine at Chiron, Eli Lilly and Sugen. Dr. Xin obtained his M.D. from Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China and a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

"I am honored to serve as NiKang’s Chief Medical Officer. I have been incredibly impressed with the capability and productivity of NiKang’s extremely talented and passionate drug hunters. They have built an attractive portfolio of novel small molecules against hard-to-drug targets for cancer treatment. It is an exciting time at NiKang as the company is advancing multiple promising drug candidates into clinical development. I look forward to working with the team to accomplish NiKang’s mission of helping cancer patients with unmet medical needs."