CANbridge Life Sciences Appoints Chief Medical Officer

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May Orfali, MD (Photo: Business Wire)

Dr. Orfali has a deep and extensive background in clinical drug development programs that spans two decades in multiple therapeutic areas, with a focus on rare diseases, oncology, hematology, infectious disease and women’s health. Most recently, she was Executive Director, Global Product Development, Pfizer, Inc., USA, where she was responsible for patient-focused drug development across multiple rare disease assets in hematology, sickle cell disease, hemophilia, endocrinology, gene therapy and TTR-amyloidosis. Prior to that role, Dr. Orfali was Senior Director and Global Medical Lead/Medicines Development Group, Specialty Care Business Unit, Pfizer, where she was responsible for developing rare disease drug development strategy, including gene therapy; oversaw global drug development in TTR-amyloidosis, and was Global Medical Lead for hematology, specifically in hemophilia A and B, across North America, Europe and Asia, including Japan and China. Prior to her time at Pfizer, Dr. Orfali held several clinical leadership positions, including Senior Director, Global Medical Monitor, Oncology at Wyeth Pharmaceutical Company, USA; VP Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Artisan Pharma, Inc., USA; Vice President, Clinical Research and Medical Affairs, Aeris Therapeutics, USA; Medical Director, CDMA, Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Medical Director, Women’s Health Group at Boston Scientific Corporation.

Dr. Orfali holds a medical degree from the University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, and a Pharmaceutical Masters of Business Administration from Cambridge University, Cambridge, England. She was a practicing physician, specialized in CNS Oncology Clinical Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, MA and completed her Fellowship in Pediatric Oncology/Hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA.

“We are delighted that Dr. Orfali has chosen to join CANbridge as we become a fully-commercial biopharmaceutical company with a robust clinical trial program and pipeline,” said James Xue, PhD, Chairman and CEO, CANbridge Life Sciences. “Her broad international experience, and proven track record of clinical trial success in multiple indications, will be key as CANbridge continues to advance our world-class programs in oncology and orphan-designated diseases, particularly in those that are severely underserved in China and Asia. We would also like to thank Dr. Mark Goldberg for serving as our interim Chief Medical Officer. He’s played an instrumental role in CANbridge’s current success and will continue to work with us in an advisory capacity.”

About CANbridge Life Sciences

CANbridge Life Sciences, Ltd. is a clinical-stage bio-pharmaceutical company accelerating development and commercialization of specialty healthcare products for serious and critical medical conditions in China and North Asia (Korea and Taiwan). CANbridge develops partnerships with Western bio-pharmaceutical companies with clinical-stage pharmaceutical, medical device or diagnostic products that are either unavailable in China/North Asia, or address medical needs that are underserved in the region. CANbridge also licenses, or obtains exclusive rights to commercialize, drug and device products that are approved in their home markets for commercialization in China and North Asia.

CANbridge has exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Puma Biotechnology’s NERLYNX® (neratinib) in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao (collectively, greater China), which was approved by the FDA, in 2017, for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer following adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy, and which CANbridge is developing as CAN030. CANbridge plans to target HER2-positive cancers, including breast and gastric. CANbridge has a license with Apogenix to develop, manufacture and commercialize immune-oncology therapy, APG101, which CANbridge is developing as CAN008, for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in greater China. CANbridge received China National Drug Administration (CNDA) approval to commence a Phase II/III Trial in GBM in mainland China, which it expects to initiate later this year. CANbridge has a world-wide license (ex-North America) to develop, manufacture and commercialize AVEO Oncology’s clinical-stage ErbB3 (HER3) inhibitory antibody candidate AV203, which it will develop as CAN017. CANbridge also has an agreement with EUSA Pharma to commercialize Caphosol® in China for the prevention and treatment of oral mucositis caused by cancer treatments. Caphosol was approved for commercialization by the CNDA.

Led and backed by a highly-seasoned executive team, with extensive Chinese drug development experience, CANbridge has the capability to select, acquire, develop and commercialize future therapeutics and diagnostics targeting the unmet medical needs of Chinese and East Asian patients with serious or critical conditions.

CANbridge is privately-held and headquartered in Beijing, China. For more on CANbridge Life Sciences, please go to www.canbridgepharma.com.

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