Allogene Overland Biopharm Appoints Shuyuan Yao as Chief Executive Officer
Allogene Overland Biopharm has appointed Shuyuan Yao, Ph.D., as its Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Yao brings over 15 years of experience in cell and gene therapy, previously serving as Chief Scientific Officer at WuXi Advanced Therapies. His leadership is expected to drive the joint venture's mission to commercialize AlloCAR T™ therapies in China and Asia-Pacific markets. Allogene Overland focuses on the development of specific AlloCAR candidates targeting cancer biomarkers like BCMA and CD70, aiming to expand its global footprint in innovative therapies.
- Appointment of Shuyuan Yao is expected to strengthen leadership in commercialization efforts.
- Dr. Yao has extensive experience in drug development and joint venture management, enhancing operational capabilities.
- Leadership transition may pose continuity concerns during critical growth phases.
Allogene Overland Biopharm (Allogene Overland), a joint venture created by Overland Pharmaceuticals and Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLO), today announced the appointment of Shuyuan Yao, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Yao brings 15 years of scientific and management experience in advanced cell and gene therapy development, manufacturing and commercialization to lead Allogene Overland in its mission to bring innovative AlloCAR T™ therapies to patients in China and other Asian Pacific markets.
Shuyuan Yao, Ph.D. (Photo: Business Wire)
“It is a privilege to join Allogene Overland at an exciting time in the advancement of the CAR T cell therapy field,” said Shuyuan Yao, Ph.D. “As a trailblazing joint venture in Asia, Allogene Overland will expand the footprint of allogeneic cell therapies for patients around the globe and I am thrilled to collaborate with both Overland Pharmaceuticals and Allogene Therapeutics to jointly fulfill this important mission.”
Most recently, Dr. Yao served as Chief Scientific Officer, Head of Research & Technology Development of WuXi Advanced Therapies at WuXi AppTec where he led new technology acquisition, development, translation and application. Prior to being CSO, Dr. Yao served as WuXi Advanced Therapies China General Manager, establishing a new subsidiary company, ATU China. At the start of his tenure at WuXi AppTec Shanghai, he established and directed the Cell Therapy R&D business unit focusing on CAR T cell therapy development. He oversaw the rollout of this business unit to create JW Therapeutics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, a joint venture between WuXi AppTec Shanghai and Juno Therapeutics, which was listed on the HKSE in November 2020, serving as VP of Operations. Before joining WuXi AppTec, Dr. Yao was Associate Director, Biology at Vertex Pharmaceuticals R&D (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. After earning his Ph.D., he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in chemical biology at The Scripps Research Institute. He started his pharmaceutical career at Sangamo Biosciences, later transitioning to various roles of increasing responsibility at Stemgent, CalCyte Therapeutics, and the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
Dr. Yao received his B.Sc. in Virology & Molecular Biology from Wuhan University, his M.Sc. in Virology & Immunology at the Chinese Academy for Preventive Medicine, and his Ph.D. in Molecular & Medical Genetics from the University of Toronto.
“Shuyuan has deep experience in drug development, commercialization and joint venture building, particularly in cell therapy,” said David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Allogene. “As the first allogeneic cell therapy company to establish a joint venture in China, we are proud to charge Shuyuan with leading Allogene Overland as it seeks to bring novel cell therapy treatments to patients with cancer in Asia.”
“Shuyuan’s experience at WuXi AppTec and JW Therapeutics in China gives him great perspective to lead our joint venture,” said Ed Zhang, MBA, Co-founder and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Overland Pharmaceuticals. “I am confident in his ability to oversee the development and global expansion of this cutting-edge technology platform. We are excited to further Allogene Overland’s pipeline under Shuyuan’s guidance.”
Allogene Overland’s pipeline is focused on the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of specific Allogene candidates targeting BCMA, CD70, FLT3, and DLL3 in the licensed territories. The joint venture also seeks opportunities to advance the global development of AlloCAR T therapies against these targets.
About Allogene Overland Biopharm
Allogene Overland Biopharm, a joint venture created by Overland Pharmaceuticals and Allogene Therapeutics, is dedicated to accelerating the global development of AlloCAR T™ therapies for patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors in China and other Asian Pacific territories.
About Overland Pharmaceuticals
Overland Pharmaceuticals is building a fully integrated biopharma company with a mission to bring innovative medicines to underserved patients in Asia and around the world. By leveraging our resources, global network, and local expertise across the biopharma ecosystem in Asia, Overland is establishing a portfolio of differentiated therapeutic candidates in a few carefully selected therapeutic areas. Through formative partnerships, Overland will move forward the development and commercialization of the most promising advances in medicine. www.overlandpharma.com.
About Allogene Therapeutics
Allogene Therapeutics, with headquarters in South San Francisco, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (AlloCAR T™) therapies for cancer. Led by a management team with significant experience in cell therapy, Allogene is developing a pipeline of “off-the-shelf” CAR T cell therapy candidates with the goal of delivering readily available cell therapy on-demand, more reliably, and at greater scale to more patients. For more information, please visit www.allogene.com, and follow @AllogeneTx on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements for Allogene
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The press release may, in some cases, use terms such as "predicts," "believes," "potential," "proposed," "continue," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may," "could," "might," "will," "should" or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the ability of Allogene Overland to develop, manufacture and commercialize AlloCAR T™ therapies for patients in China and other Asian Pacific markets, and the potential benefits of AlloCAR T™ therapy. Various factors may cause differences between Allogene’s expectations and actual results as discussed in greater detail in Allogene’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including without limitation in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. Any forward-looking statements that are made in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Allogene assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.
AlloCAR T™ is a trademark of Allogene Therapeutics, Inc.
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