John Niu is a co-founder of BlueRock Venture Partners and focuses on advances in biotech and drug innovation. He has been actively identifying and evaluating new investments and has played key roles in launching, building and developing strategy of new companies. John is also the president and chief executive officer of McCull Pharmaceuticals and founding director at a number of startup biotech companies. Prior to the founding of BlueRock Venture Partners, John served as a Managing Director of GM Capital and as director and interim CEO of Chinda Biological. Prior to the founding of McCull Pharmaceuticals, John worked with Sanofi-Aventis and Merck and held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility in pharmaceutical research and development. John also played a key role in leading SUBIA (Sino-US Biomedical Investment Association) for promoting innovation and capital investment cross the border of US and China. John received his Ph.D in Chemistry and Toxicology from Iowa State University in US and a B.S. in Organic Chemistry from Zhengzhou University in China.

John has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical-biotechnology industry and assumed various active leadership roles as research scientist, executive, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. He concentrates primarily on venture-funded biotech asset and early discovery platform with investment approaches of “Asset-Centic” and “Build-to-Exit” philosophy.

As a serial entrepreneur, John founded PharmaSolution LLC in New Jersey in 2005, a Delaware incorporation - McCullough Pharmaceuticals Inc in 2008, McCull Nantong in 2011, and Rudong KeBio in 2015. He served as founding Director and CEO and played key role in the early sourcing, financing, launching and development of the start-up companies. In these roles, he was instrumental in formulating the initial business plan and assembling the founding team, and directed drug innovation and product development of recombinant proteins and antibodies anticancer-drugs and new anti-coagulation biochemical drugs. Through these endeavors, John gained extensive strategic and operational experience in startup biotech companies.

Prior to the founding of McCull Pharmaceuticals, John worked with Sanofi-Aventis and Merck and held a variety of roles of increasing responsibility in pharmaceutical research as a research chemist, senior scientist, study director, and the Chair of the global CMC team. Through his career, he participated in a large number of R & D projects from small molecule to biochemical drug development. He gained broad expertise across all phases of drug discovery, early development and process sciences, As chairman of the global CMC team, he was responsible for coordinating activities for global strategic planning, technical development, outsourcing and cooperation with cross-department members from Chemical Development, Pilot Plant production, Toxicology，DMPK, Drug formulation, Analytical Science, Clinical Supply Chain, Regulatory Affairs, and GMP Compliance. While working at Sanofi-Aventis, he pursued his QA/RA MS program studies from Temple University School of Pharmacy and obtained the RA/QA certificate in May 2007. John started his pharma career with Sanofi in 1995, joined Aventis in 2008, and then entered Sanofi-Aventis at Bridgewater NJ in 2001 due to company merge.

John received his Ph.D in Chemistry and Toxicology from Iowa State University, and a B.S. in Chemistry from Zhengzhou University. He had been a research staff at Ames Laboratory US-DOE since 1989 and was formerly a lecturer in Organic Chemistry at Zhengzhou University. John is an adjunct professor of Nantong University.