Dajun Yang

Chairman of the Board, Executive Director & CEO at Ascentage Pharma Group

Speaker

Dajun Yang, M.D., Ph.D., our co-founder, Chairman and CEO, has dedicated over 30 years to the research in oncology, the apoptosis pathway, as well as the R&D of innovative drugs. Since co-founding Ascentage Pharma in 2009, he made major breakthroughs in drug development and advanced multiple drug candidates with global first-/best-in-class potentials into clinical development in China, US, Australia and Europe. Prior to co-founding our company, Dr. Yang co-founded Ascenta Therapeutics, Inc. Prior to that, Dr. Yang was a part-time professor and supervisor of doctoral students at the Cancer Center at Sun Yat-sen University from 2003 to 2006 and an Associate Professor and Senior Investigator at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University from 1995 to 2001

Dr. Yang has led nearly 10 National Science & Technology Major Projects including the National High-tech R&D Program (863 Program) and “Major New Drug Development” projects. Being highly recognized for his work, Dr. Yang serves a range of positions outside his primary responsibilities, including professor and Ph.D. supervisor at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, deputy director of the Drug R&D Specialty Committee of China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association, and part-time researcher in Pharmaceutical Innovations at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, Dr. Yang has served as the 8th president (2005-2006) of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association (CBA), USA. He and his team, widely respected in field of novel drug development, have received a series of high profile recognitions and prominent awards, including the Team for Major Innovations designations by both Suzhou municipality and Jiangsu province; the first ever Award for Teams Pioneering Innovations in Jiangsu province; the 2022 Team of Excellence in Science and Technology of Suzhou; the Tan Jiazhen Life Science Industrialization Award; Top 10 Business Leaders in the Pharmaceutical Industry, by the 14th Health China Forum organized by the People’s Daily; and the Dushu Lake Cup Award for Most Innovative Figure of Drug R&D.

Dr. Yang received his Bachelor’s in Medicine and his Master’s in Oncology from Sun Yat-sen University in China and his Ph.D. in Genetics from Michigan State University. Dr. Yang has published more than 70 articles including peer-reviewed articles and is an inventor of 22 issued U.S. patents.