Nanding Zhao joint Suzhou Kanova Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. as Chief Executive Officer. He was Head of External Innovation from 2015-2018 at China Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Co., Ltd. (CNIBR). Before his career at CNI BR he was Associate Director, External Research of Oncology PCU at Eisai, Inc. USA, a subsidiary of Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai, Co., Ltd. He was with Eisai for 17+ years where he held various positions from leading to managing drug discovery projects of anti-inflammatory and anticancer. Between 2009-2015 he led external collaboration initiatives to support Eisai Oncology PCU US preclinical operations and managed external collaborations with various aspects, from fee-for-services, contract research, business development and strategic alliance management. Collaboration partners encompassed CROs in China, US, Europe and Japan, academic institutions of US and Japan, governmental agency (NIH/NCI), and biotech and pharma companies. At CNIBR he lead a group with similar mission to support R&D pipeline and projects.
Nanding earned his B.S. & M.S. degrees in Microbiochemistry from Chiba University Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Chiba, Japan), and a Doctor of Science degree in Molecular Biology and Medicine from Kyushu University Graduate School of Medical Sciences (Fukuoka, Japan). He conducted three-year post-graduate research from 1994-1997 at The Section of Hematology/Oncology, The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (Chicago, IL, USA) where he was promoted to Instructor (Research Associate) by the end of postdoctoral training. He also has an MBA degree from Boston University Graduate School of Management (Boston, MA, US) with certificate in Healthcare Management.