Ascletis Appoints Former Novartis Global Head Dr. Handan He as Chief Scientific Officer

Ascletis Pharma Inc. (1672.HK), an innovative R&D driven, commercial-stage biotechnology company addressing unmet medical needs in therapeutic areas including anti-viral, cancer and fatty liver diseases, announces today that Dr. Handan He joins Ascletis as Chief Scientific Officer, reporting to Dr. Jinzi J. Wu, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ascletis.

Dr. He was a former Global Head of Computational, Biopharmaceutics and Translational PK/PD at Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, New Jersey, USA. She managed scientific teams across Novartis global sites in USA and Switzerland. Her main responsibilities included in silico ADME predictions, human PK/PD projections, translational PK/PD, in vitro and in vivo correlations, and clinical Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic modeling for drug absorption, drug interaction, organ impairment and pediatrics.

Dr. He joined Novartis, New Jersey in 1997. Over her 22 years tenure at Novartis, Dr. He authored more than 30 INDs and 3 NDAs (Galvus, Indacaterol and Midostaurin), and supported all disease areas in both preclinical and clinical stages at Novartis. She conducted 15 due-diligence evaluation projects (phase I through phase III) to help strengthen the Novartis pipeline.

"I am excited to have Dr. He on board," said Dr. Wu. "Dr. He's scientific experience and track record will bring great value to our R&D organization."

"Ascletis' R&D strategy has been successful since its founding," said Dr. He. "I look forward to working with Dr. Wu and the team to discover and develop first-in-class medicines."

Dr. He was a recipient of the 2009 Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award. This recognition is the most prestigious Asian American business award in the U.S. to honor individuals for outstanding leadership, vision and accomplishments. In 2008, Dr. He received the highest Novartis Global VIVA Award (Vision, Innovation, Value, and Achievement Award) in recognition of her scientific contributions as a life-long Leading Scientist at Novartis. Dr. He served as the 20th President of Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA), an organization of over 4000 pharmaceutical scientists.

Dr. He has published more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 2 book chapters and over 40 conference abstracts. She holds a Ph.D. in Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics from University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

About Ascletis

Ascletis is an innovative R&D driven biotech with two commercial products and listed on Hong Kong, S.A.R., China Stock Exchange (Ascletis, 1672.HK). Ascletis' mission is to address unmet medical needs in three therapeutic areas: viral, cancer and fatty liver diseases. Led by a management team with deep expertise and a proven track record, Ascletis has developed a fully integrated platform covering the entire value chain from discovery and development to manufacturing and commercialization. Ascletis is now commercializing two drugs, Ganovo® (Danoprevir), the first direct-acting anti-viral agent for hepatitis C developed domestically for China, and Pegasys® (Peginterferon alfa-2a), a well-established pegylated interferon for hepatitis B&C partnered with Roche. Ascletis' R&D pipeline consists of antibody-based immunotherapy, first/best-in-class small molecules and siRNA at various clinical development stages.

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