Neurophth Therapeutics Strengthens Leadership Team with Appointment of Su Zhang as Chief Financial Officer

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Nov 24, 2021, 08:30 ET

SHANGHAI and SAN DIEGO, Nov. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Neurophth Biotechnology Ltd., a fully-integrated genomic medicines company seeking to improve lives through the curative potential of gene therapies, today announced the recent appointment of Su Zhang, M.B.A., as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Su will have board responsibility across corporate and operational finance as well as accounting and directing functions.

Mr. Su Zhang has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare corporate finance. He joins Neurophth from Ascentage Pharma, where he served as CFO, leading the company through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing, as well as several subsequent re-financing and business development partnerships. Prior to joining Ascentage Pharma, he served as the Director of Healthcare Equity Analyst at China Merchant Securities in Hong Kong, China, as well as working at Standard Chartered Bank and BNP Paribas in London and Hong Kong for over 8 years.

Mr. Su Zhang holds a Master of Business Administration degree from HEC Paris School of Management, a Master of Science degree in accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor's degree in International Business Economics from Fudan University.

"We are fortunate to have an executive with Su's financial acumen and pedigree joining our management team as CFO," said Bin Li, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and Chairman of Neurophth. "Su is a well-known and highly respected biotechnology leader with a diverse background in strategic investments, equity capital markets, and partnership. He has a proven record of leading companies through rapid growth both domestically and internationally. We wish him every success in his new role at Neurophth."

"I'm delighted to welcome Su as our new CFO," said Alvin Luk, Ph.D., M.B.A., C.C.R.A., CEO of Neurophth. "Su has demonstrated the ability to successfully bring companies through IPO, financial growth and international expansion. His expertise in strategic finance leadership, healthcare strategic finance, and strong investor relationships, make him an ideal fit for this role as we enter the next phase of growth for Neurophth."

"This is a great time to join Professor Li, Alvin and the team at Neurophth," added Mr. Zhang. "I am passionate about advancing the sciences and working with companies to make true impacts on the lives of patients. Neurophth is emerging as an innovative and leading gene therapy company in China. I look forward to partnering with the team and helping the company advance its vision of developing transformative therapies for unmet medical need."

About Neurophth

Neurophth is China's first gene therapy company for ophthalmic diseases. With subsidiaries in China (Wuhan, Shanghai, and Suzhou) and US (San Diego, California), Neurophth, a fully integrated company, is striving to discover and develop genomic medicines for patients suffering from genetic diseases globally. Our validated AAV platform, which has been published in Nature - Scientific Reports, Ophthalmology, and EBioMedicine, has successfully delivered proof-of-concept investigator-initiated trials data of 198 subjects with investigational gene therapies in the retina. Our most advanced investigational candidate NR082 (core project NFS-01), in development for the treatment of ND4-mediated Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (ND4-LHON), has been granted orphan drug designation (ODD) by the U.S. FDA and its IND evaluating NR082 in an integrated Phase 1/2/3 clinical trial has also been approved by the China NMPA in March 2021 with the first patient being dosed in June 2021. The pipeline also includes ND1-mediated LHON, autosomal dominant optic atrophy, optic neuroprotection (e.g., glaucoma), vascular retinopathy (e.g., diabetic retinopathy), and five other preclinical candidates. Neurophth has initiated the scaling up in-house manufacturing process in single-use technologies to support future commercial demand at the Suzhou facilities. To learn more about us and our growing pipeline, visit www.neurophth.com.