First visit in Zhangjiang: 2005

Working experience in Zhangjiang: Egret Pharma ( Shanghai) Ltd; Sundia; Leadingtac

First office: Egret Pharma ( Shanghai) Ltd, Building 2, 720 Cailun Road

In 1996, Yan Feng, in his early 20s, graduated from Nankai University with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and moved to the Institute of Organic Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for his Ph.D.. At the same year, an national biomedical science and technology industrial park was established in Zhangjiang, so as one of the fresh Ph.D. candidates, Yan had the opportunity to adventure the science park. After the visit, Yan Feng was deeply impressed by the Zhangjiang Park. He said that to some extent, Zhangjiang was where he started his journey of drug discovery, which allowed him to outgrow an entrepreneur with comprehensive business capabilities from a bench based chemist focusing on technology and research.

In 2005, after completing his post-doctoral training at the University of Michigan, Yan Feng came to Zhangjiang as a chemistry director in an innovative drug development company and completed the selection of PCC in just two years of his tenure. However, at that time, the environment for new drug development in Zhangjiang was uncourageous, so he returned to the United States to recommence the research work after deep consideration. Later, he was invited by Chen Chen, his senior fellow from Shanghai Organic Institute, to join Sundia, a CRO company, intensively involved in pharmaceutical R&D services, building an "augmented reality" connection to the industrial part of drug development.

Firstly, he saw the boost of domestic innovative drug company from 2010 to 2015 and "felt the emergence of the domestic innovative drug industry and the gradual improvement of capital, policy and market environment"; Secondly, in the process of serving the projects related to Immunomodulator (ImiD), he recognized more about the potential and application of targeted protein degradation and Protein Degrader technology in new drug development.

"The concept of Protein Degrader was first proposed in 2001 by Crews et al. at Yale University to use the naturally occurring protein cleanup system in the body to lower the protein levels instead of inhibiting the protein function for therapeutic purposes, however, the progress was slow at the beginning, and like any novel technology, countless experiments were required to validate the concept from inception to maturity. Finally, in 2019, the first oral small molecule Protein Degrader targeting AR, ARV-110, entered clinical trials, marking an essential step toward druggability for Protein Degrader technology, which is also an attempt of a new business for me."

In 2019, on the recommendation of a colleague, Yan Feng met Xiaoyong Yu , an angel investor led by ZJ LEADING VC, and the two parties came to an agreement immediately and started the business. During the interview, the filming team was aware that table tennis is Yan' s hobby in his daily life, they instantly proposed adding a few shots to the interview, in which ZJ LEADING VC' s investor Yu Xiaoyong also played a role, and the competition between them showed their perfect cooperation. This also reflected the feature of innovative entrepreneurial atmosphere in Zhangjiang.

Yan Feng said, "I am fortunate to have an angel investor who has the great confidence on my potential of an entrepreneur." There is another episode, by the reference of colleagues, he made the acquaintance of Lei Jiang, the founder of the Ennovabio, which also invested by ZJ LEADING VC. Lei is also a member of the academic evaluation committee of the investment company, and he was Yan’s mentor in Nankai University.

In his network, combined with his experience in CRO, the set-up of Leadingtac was a natural fit. Within two years, they formed a team of more than 20 people, "in vitro and in vivo pharmacology and pharmacodynamics, PK, bioanalysis, medicinal chemistry, CMC, new drug registration, clinical medicine, operation and finance, human resource, but everyone is indeed multiplayer " Furthermore, the program has already completed the screening of the first candidate compound and is being pushed further, "If it goes well, our program is likely to move to the clinical stage in the early of next year."

Yan also said frankly, "The outbreak of the Covid-19 has slowed down the progress of the project behind expectations, but at the beginning of the adventure, we were fully prepared for the challenges that the discovery of novel drugs, which requires persistence and resilience. But in Zhangjiang, with the generous support of our friends, we will work through these challenges."

The summit will follow the two static modules of "innovation originality, sharing and opening", with "innovative drugs, innovative devices, cell therapy, AI+, Chinese medicine innovation" as the entry point of five major industries. The "Zhangjiang Global Dialogue Series" will focus on "international development, financial investment, talent service, clinical research, public relations, IPO strategy, laboratory construction", deepening the "Collaboration and Co-creation, Empowerment and Innovation, Global Win-Win“. This discusses the development of the global life science industry in a comprehensive, multi-dimensional and profound level, presents sustainability of the life science industry in Zhangjiang and its adaptability to the world; improves the industry development ecology, and further creates an open international platform for biomedical innovation originality.