Ambrx, Inc. Announces New Chief Medical Officer

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambrx today announced the appointment of Yong-Jiang Hei, M.D., Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) reporting directly to CEO, Tiecheng "Alex" Qiao.

With nearly 20 years of experience in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, Dr. Hei brings to Ambrx broad knowledge and tremendous expertise in oncology clinical development as well as medical affairs.  Prior to Ambrx, Dr. Hei worked at Amgen for more than 9 years as an Executive Medical Director in global development where he led cross-functional teams to define product development strategies and clinical development plans for several late-phase oncology projects in various solid tumors.  He drove the design and execution of multiple clinical trials including a large randomized international phase 3 trial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).  Additionally, Dr. Hei spent three years in China as the medical head for Amgen China to build and establish a talented clinical medical team for Amgen China affiliate.  Before Amgen, Dr. Hei worked for Roche Laboratories, Inc., and Novartis oncology with increasing responsibilities in the capacity of US Medical Director for Roche, and Senior Global Brand Medical Director/Executive Director for Novartis Oncology where he led the development and execution of medical plans, expanded the investigator-initiated clinical research, and supported regulatory filings in the US, Japan, the EMEA, and China.  Dr. Hei received his medical degree from Shihezi Medical College in China, and graduate degrees from the West China University of Medical Sciences (M.Sc) and the University of British Columbia in Canada (Ph.D.).  He also trained in the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as a post-doctoral fellow in cancer biology. 

"We are thrilled to have attracted Dr. Hei who has great depth and breadth of experience and knowledge in the development and commercialization of anti-cancer biological therapies to join Ambrx at this exciting time,"  said Alex Qiao, CEO. "We believe Yong-Jiang's leadership will be incredibly valuable as we plan to file NDA in Australia, New Zealand and China for ARX788, an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) that targets HER2 over-expressing tumors. Dr. Hei will play a key leadership role in guiding the company's future growth."

ABOUT AMBRX
Ambrx®, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company with a mission to deliver breakthrough protein therapeutics using an expanded genetic code. Unlike conventional conjugation techniques that create a mixture of suboptimal molecules, Ambrx technology combines site specific conjugation with proprietary linkers, payloads and pharmacokinetic extenders to create a single molecular species that is optimized for safety, efficacy and biophysical properties. We call this process Protein Medicinal Chemistry.

Protein Medicinal Chemistry can optimize any protein or antibody to create potentially best-in-class therapeutics such as long-acting proteins, bi-specifics and antibody drug conjugates. The Ambrx advantage allows us to safely and effectively target cytotoxic agents or recruit effector function to tumor cells (oncology) or modulate biological pathways implicated in disease areas such as autoimmune, metabolic and cardiovascular.

At Ambrx, we are dedicated to assembling and developing an exceptional team and a novel technology to create the next generation of protein-based medicines.

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SOURCE Ambrx, Inc.