Shanghai, China, November 30th, 2021 - Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696.HK) announced that Mr. Qiyu Chen has resigned as Chairman of the company due to work adjustment. After his resignation, Mr. Chen will continue serving as a Non-executive Director of Henlius to closely follow the company’s development. Mr. Wenjie Zhang, the current Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer, and President, has been nominated as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Zhang will lead the senior management team on the company’s daily management and oversee the operations of the company and its subsidiaries. Mr. Jason Zhu, the current Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President, takes over as President and will be responsible for the company’s global product development and management of certain functional departments.
Mr. Qiyu Chen, Executive Director and Co-CEO of Fosun International, and Non-executive Director of Henlius, said, “Since its establishment in 2010, Henlius has been dedicated to the field of biopharmaceuticals and adopted to international standards for product development and manufacturing. Up to now, Henlius has grown into a scalable global pharmaceutical company that created many industry firsts. It has launched 3 products in China and 1 in the EU, including 汉利康, the first China-developed biosimilar, 汉曲优, the first China-developed monoclonal antibody biosimilar approved both in China and in the EU, opening a new chapter for China's local monoclonal antibody drugs to benefit patients all over the world. Looking back on over 10 years in the past, it has been a booming era of China’s biopharmaceutical industry, also a journey of the company’s evolution with an unwavering commitment to innovation, exploration, transformation, and continuous development. The change of the Board of Directors and the management team demonstrates our determination and confidence in the face of future challenges in the pharmaceutical industry developing at an unprecedented speed. I am very pleased that Wenjie has taken over as the Chairman of Henlius. Under his leadership, Henlius has successfully made its debut of commercialization and has been continually improving the effectiveness and efficiency of R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization, taking a firm step towards a more innovative global biopharmaceutical company. I believe that Wenjie and his management team will set robust strategic directions, optimize management mechanisms, and lead the company to continuous innovation to create the long-term value of Henlius.
Mr. Wenjie Zhang, Chairman, Executive Director, and CEO of Henlius, said, “hereby I would like to represent Henlius to express sincere gratitude to Mr. Qiyu Chen and the Board of Directors for the guidance and support to the company’s development in the past years. With the trust and support from shareholders and the dedicated contribution of everyone, Henlius has successfully grown from a team of overseas scientists into a global biopharmaceutical company with over 2,000 employees. Henlius has built an integrated biopharmaceutical platform covering R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization alongside two R&D centers in Shanghai, China, and California, the US, and the company is still expanding and growing sustainably. In recent years, attracted by the mission and vision of Henlius, many top management talents, including Mr. Jason Zhu, in R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization of leading international biopharmaceutical companies have joined Henlius. With more than 20 years in the clinical research industry, Mr. Zhu has led the design and execution of over 100 clinical trials and has made outstanding achievements in multiple therapeutic fields. His extensive industry experience and deep understanding of R&D will be instrumental in increasing the value of the product pipeline. With our consistently strong belief in the philosophy of ‘Reliable Quality · Affordable Innovation’, we will continue exploring all-around innovations and breakthroughs, taking the company’s development to a new stage, and providing affordable and high-quality biologics to patients all over the world.”
Mr. Jason Zhu, President of Henlius, said, “with a forward-looking global landscape, Henlius has built a diversified and innovative product pipeline focusing on oncology, autoimmune diseases, and ophthalmic diseases. The company continues its momentum for innovation by proactively developing novel monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), while strengthening the in-licensing and collaboration on innovative external assets. In the future, we will continue putting the interests of patients first, further exploring more innovative treatment options through in-house innovation and strategic collaboration.”