Zai Lab Announces the Appointment of Dr. Peter Huang as Chief Scientific Officer

SHANGHAI and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ: ZLAB; HKEX: 9688) a patient-focused, innovative, commercial-stage, global biopharmaceutical company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Peter Huang as its Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), effective immediately. Dr. Huang brings an extensive scientific background and strong leadership and research and development experience, including over 16 years working within the biopharmaceutical industry, to Zai Lab.

“We are excited to welcome Peter to our global leadership team,” said Dr. Samantha Du, Founder, Chairperson, and CEO of Zai Lab. “Peter has a strong track record in leading internal discovery research as well as external collaborations, and we look forward to driving innovation in drug research and development under his leadership.”

Dr. Huang will report to Josh Smiley, Chief Operating Officer of Zai Lab, and will be a key member of the Company’s executive committee. He will lead and oversee the Company’s discovery efforts and translational medicine.

“I look forward to joining Zai Lab and working with the incredible leadership and scientific teams to continue to grow and develop the company’s drug discovery and translational research programs,” said Dr. Huang. “Zai Lab has a number of exciting product candidates in its pipeline, and I am especially excited to oversee the development of this pipeline and to identify new product candidates that can help address unmet needs of patients in China and around the world.”

Dr. Huang joins Zai Lab from Zentalis Pharmaceuticals where he held various roles of increasing responsibility from March 2015 to October 2022. Most recently, Dr. Huang served as Senior Vice President of Discovery Research for Zentalis from October 2020, overseeing their drug portfolio and pipeline, building their discovery platform, leading discovery for multiple new clinical candidates, and overseeing translational research to support clinical development. Prior to Zentalis, he worked at Pfizer, Inc. as one of their oncology chemistry designers and focused on the discovery of small-molecule drugs from 2006 to 2015. In these roles, Dr. Huang was the key inventor of a number of clinical compounds, including lorlatinib, an anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibitor (ALKi), which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2018. He was an honoree of the 2021 Heroes of Chemistry from the American Chemistry Society for the discovery and development of lorlatinib. Dr. Huang received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Iowa State University and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at The University of Chicago.

About Zai Lab

Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ: ZLAB; HKEX: 9688) is an innovative, research-based, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company based in China and the United States focused on bringing transformative medicines for oncology, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, and neurological disorders to patients in China and around the world. Our goal is to leverage our competencies and resources to positively impact human health worldwide.

For additional information about Zai Lab, including our products, business activities and partnerships, research, and other events or developments, please visit www.zailaboratory.com and follow us at www.twitter.com/ZaiLab_Global.

Zai Lab Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements about future expectations, plans, and prospects, including, without limitation, statements relating to the prospects and plans for Zai Lab’s management, operations, and growth potential. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this press release are forward-looking statements, and can be identified by words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “will,” “would,” and other similar expressions. Such statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees or assurances of future performance. Forward-looking statements are based on our expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. We may not actually achieve the plans, carry out the intentions, or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including but not limited to (1) our ability to successfully commercialize and generate revenue from our approved products, (2) our ability to obtain funding for our operations and business initiatives, (3) the results of our clinical and pre-clinical development of our product candidates, (4) the content and timing of decisions made by the relevant regulatory authorities regarding regulatory approvals of our product candidates, (5) the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including any government actions or lockdown measures taken in response, on our business and general economic, regulatory, and political conditions, (6) risks related to doing business in China, and (7) other factors identified in our most recent annual and quarterly reports and in other reports we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our expectations and assumptions to change, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Our SEC filings can be found on our website at www.zailaboratory.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

For more information, please contact:
Media: Christine Drury / Xiaoyu Chen
+1 (317) 385-9227 / +86 185 0015 5011
christine.drury@zailaboratory.com / xiaoyu.chen@zailaboratory.com
Investor Relations: Lina Zhang
+86 136 8257 6943
lina.zhang@zailaboratory.com