Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (SAPA)

[2024 SAPA Annual Conference Highlights] Dear SAPA Members and Friends, 🌍 Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association (#SAPA) held the 31st Annual Conference “Redefining Medicine: Navigating Resilience, Transforming Lives” on September 27 and 28, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick, New Jersey, featuring two plenary sessions, six parallel sessions, #legal short courses, and multiple #networking sessions. ✨ More than 60 distinguished speakers and panelists, including Dr. janet woodcock, Dr. Samit Hirawat (he/him), Dr. Allen Templeton, Dr. Rosa Sanchez, Dr. Greg Verdine, Dr. Ying Huang, Dr. Jacques Mascaro, and Dr. James Cai, shared their insights on #drug discovery, #CMC and #outsourcing, #clinical and #regulatory landscape, #investment and business development, and career development at the conference, which attracted over 460 attendees each day and 26 sponsors from around the globe in the #pharmaceutical industry and related areas, including Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Merck, Johnson & Johnson. 🔎 Read more: https://lnkd.in/g_MWgPVu 🎞 Please click on the video link below to watch the conference highlights: https://lnkd.in/gHv_pq38 🎉 Welcome to Join Us: 📍Join our email list: https://lnkd.in/gEq8FC44 📍Become a SAPA member: https://lnkd.in/g4a3JBfH 📍Become a SAPA volunteer: https://lnkd.in/gK7Tku7x 📍To sponsor our events, please contact fundraising@sapaweb.org Look forward to meeting you in our next events! #Pharmaceutical #Biotech #regulatory #investment #businessdevelopment #careerdevelopment #networking #SAPAannualconference #2024 #SAPAHQ

【Collaborator’s event】The Middlesex County will host its Business Summit this year on Oct 10th with special focus on #LifeScience. Don’t miss this great opportunity to network and catch up with the latest trends in business and benefits from the NJ government! For registration info and event details, please see below.

【SAPA Data Science Community Webinar】How to enhance AI with RAG? Join us at SAPA Data Science Community Webinar with Mengni Liu Molly Liu, Senior GenAI Data Scientist at Bristol Myers Squibb to have a deep dive into Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). We will explore advanced Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) techniques with a live demo, demonstrating the steps involved in building a RAG system and how it integrates with Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance the accuracy of generated responses. RSVP: 🔗https://lnkd.in/eVxJYJ8u 📅 Date: Tuesday, October 15, 2024 ⏰Time: 8:00 - 9:30 PM EST

✨ SAPA 2024 Annual Conference: Saturday Afternoon Wrap-up! This afternoon, the SAPA Annual Conference explored critical topics in Investment, Business Development, Drug Discovery, and Clinical Development through engaging Parallel Sessions: 💼 Investment & Business Development (Session D) featured top executives and venture capitalists discussing investment trends and strategies for navigating life sciences and biopharma industries. Speakers such as @Larry Cai 蔡凌希 (Defand Therapeutics), Arda Ural, MSc, MBA, PhD , EY, Marian Nakada, Ph.D. (Johnson & Johnson), Lorenzo Paoletti (Truist Securities), Dennis Purcell, Founder, Aisling Capital, and @Diyong Xu, Orbimed Advisors, shared insights on resilience, partnerships, and accelerating next-gen therapeutics. 🔬 Drug Discovery (Session E) dived deep into cutting-edge discoveries from bispecific antibodies to gene therapy, with thought leaders including Yang Shen, Ph.D., Regeneron, Zhiping Pang, Ph.D., Professor, Rutgers University, Weiping Shao, Ph.D., AstraZeneca, and Tom Tucker, Merck, delivered inspiring presentations. 🧪 Clinical Development & Regulatory (Session F) covered FDA perspectives, clinical trial designs, and emerging frontiers in oncology, autoimmune, and rare diseases. Experts like Francisco Leon (Tolerance Bio), Li Yan (US Chinese Anti-Cancer Association), Scott Schliebner, VP, Novotech, Jian Wang, Ph.D., Astra Zeneca, Chaohong Fan, Ph.D., Lead Physician, FDA, Michelle Ponpipom, Merck, Christopher Ung, Chief Scientific Business Officer, CellCarta and @Joseph Eld, Joseph Eid Biopharma Consulting LLC provided deep insights into regulatory science and companion diagnostics. 🌟 The afternoon ended with 1:1 Partnering opportunities, giving attendees the chance to network with key industry representatives and explore potential collaborations. The SAPA 2024 Annual Conference concluded successfully, spotlighting the latest advancements in biopharma and fostering valuable discussions on AI in drug discovery, regulatory innovation, and strategic growth. Thank you to all the participants for making this year’s event a success! Also, we greatly appreciate our sponsors, including Special thanks to the sponsoring companies for their generous support of this event: Bristol Myers Squibb, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Crystal Pharmatech, Novotech, Apeloa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Aucta Pharmaceuticals Inc. Axela Biosciences, Inc, Biocytogen, Fox Rothschild, GenScript, InnoCare Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Kim IP, McCarter & English, LLP, @MCE, Medicilon Inc. Merck, MileCell Bio, @MOON SOTRUN, PharmaResources, Protheragen, Inc. QLD Biotherapeutics Inc, Tigermed, THC Lawyers, VCL Law. Thanks for the dedication and hard work of hundreds of volunteers behind the scenes. More to come for our conference reports and interview snapshots. Stay tuned! #SAPA2024 #Pharmaceuticals #Biopharma #Investment #BusinessDevelopment #DrugDiscovery #ClinicalDevelopment #Networking

🌟 SAPA 2024 Annual Conference: Saturday Morning Highlights! This morning, the SAPA Annual Conference continued with an exceptional Plenary Session II, where four distinguished speakers delved into cutting-edge advancements in drug discovery and development: 🔬 Greg Verdine, PhD, President & CEO of LifeMine, captivated the audience with a talk on “Toward Universal Druggability,” exploring the untapped potential of natural products and genomically encoded chemistry to unlock new therapeutic opportunities. 🎯 Ying Huang, PhD, CEO of Legend Biotech, shared the groundbreaking success of Carvykti, a paradigm-shifting CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma, and its transformative impact on the treatment of this challenging cancer. 🌍 Jacques Mascaro, PhD, MBA, SVP of Oncology Regulatory Science at AstraZeneca, highlighted key strategies for advancing drug development and regulatory innovation in oncology, fostering faster breakthroughs in cancer therapies. 🤖 James Cai, PhD, Head of Computational Biology and Digital Science at Boehringer Ingelheim, explored the revolutionary potential of AI in drug discovery, from speeding up research to precision-driven molecule design. It was an inspiring and knowledge-packed morning! If you haven’t joined us yet, there’s still time to register onsite for the afternoon sessions and more networking opportunities. SAPA 2024 Annual conference: Time:  Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28, 2024 Location: Hyatt Regency New Brunswick,2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Event information and brochure, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eFKMgEYC Special thanks to the sponsoring companies for their strong support of this event: Bristol Myers Squibb, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Crystal Pharmatech Novotech Apeloa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd Aucta Pharmaceuticals Inc. Axela Biosciences, Inc Biocytogen Fox Rothschild GenScript InnoCare Pharma Johnson & Johnson, Kim IP McCarter & English, LLP @MCE Medicilon Inc. Merck MileCell Bio @MOON SOTRUN PharmaResources Protheragen, Inc. QLD Biotherapeutics Inc, Tigermed, THC Lawyers VCL Law. #SAPA2024 #DrugDiscovery #Innovation #AIinPharma #Pharmaceuticals #LifeSciences #Conference

✨ SAPA 2024 Annual GALA: A Night of Celebration and Recognition! Last night (9/27), the SAPA Annual GALA brought together nearly 250 attendees for an unforgettable night filled with a spectacular dinner, lively entertainment, and invaluable networking opportunities. One of the highlights of the evening was the announcement of the SAPA Awards🎖️, where we honored the volunteers whose incredible dedication and contributions made 2024 a successful year for SAPA and our community. We also announced the winner of SAPA Scholarship & Excellence in Education for Life Sciences, John Hu for his accomplishments as a rising talent in this field. We are truly grateful for all the support and efforts from our volunteers, members, and sponsors. Stay tuned for more exciting updates from the conference, and if you haven’t already, join us for Saturday’s sessions—you won’t want to miss it! SAPA 2024 Annual conference: Time: Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28, 2024 Location: Hyatt Regency New Brunswick,2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Event information and brochure, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eFKMgEYC #SAPA2024 #GalaNight #Celebration #Volunteers #Networking #Pharmaceuticals #LifeSciences #Conference

🔬 SAPA 2024 Annual Conference: Friday Afternoon Highlights! This afternoon at the 31st SAPA Annual Conference, we hosted three parallel sessions, offering invaluable insights for professionals in various fields. 🔹 Parallel Session A - Executive & Legal Summit Industry leaders and legal experts discussed: 📍 Executive Insights on Pharma/Biotech Growth in NJ with Ian McLaughlin, PhD (Vice President of Government Affairs, BioNJ, Sho Islam, Middlesex County Government NJ, Moushmi C. Culver, SVP, Merck, Simon King, CPO, Daiichi Sankyo, and Rong Yang, CEO, Fosun Pharma USA, where they emphasized the role of NJ's diverse talent pool and the need for global collaboration. 📍Mergers & Acquisitions  featuring top legal and business minds including @James Hu, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Casarine Chong, SVP, BMS, Calvin Leung, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, and @Gabor Szabo, Moelis & Company where trends in pharma and biotech were discussed, 📍Corporate & Patent Law for entrepreneurship and cross-border deals, including Peng Cai, Ph.D., Esq., Ph.D., Kim IP Group, Bin Hu Karg, VCL Law, Zhenggui Li(Kevin) Li, McCarter & English, LLP, and Wansheng Jerry Liu (Jerry) Liu, Ph.D., Fox Rothschild LLP. 🔹 Parallel Session B - CMC & Outsourcing Experts including Lucy Chang, Ph.D., Merck, Hong Gao, J&J, Ye Gu, Ph.D., (Co-Founder and CTO of Crystal Bio, Andrew Leithead, Merck, @Wenjie Li, Ph.D., VP, Shanghai Medicilon Inc., and Xiuling Lu, Ph.D., Professor, University of Connecticut discussed continuous biologics manufacturing, innovative drug delivery systems, and future opportunities in collaborations between pharmaceutical companies and CDMOs. 🔹 Parallel Session C - Career Development Career growth strategies and personal success stories were shared by Angus Grant, PhD, Ph.D., EVP, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Annah Litzenberger, CHRO, Fosun Pharma USA, Lian Ma, Ph.D., VP, Createrna, Blair Bu, IntelliPro Group, and Zhen Yang, Ph.D., Hansoh, with a focus on transitions and long-term career planning. There’s more to come tomorrow! Join us on Saturday, September 28th, for more transformative discussions and networking opportunities. Onsite registration is available—don't miss out! SAPA 2024 Annual conference: Time:  Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28, 2024 Location: Hyatt Regency New Brunswick,2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Event information and brochure, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eFKMgEYC #SAPA2024 #Pharmaceuticals #LifeSciences #Innovation #Conference #Biotech #CareerDevelopment

[Highlights on Friday Plenary Session]: On Friday, September 27, the 2024 Annual Conference kicked off with the opening remark by Jack Wu, PhD, MBA. Dr. janet woodcock, M.D., as the first keynote speaker served as Principal Deputy Commissioner of FDA from February 2022 until February 2024. She gave an inspiring talk, titled “Future of the Pharmaceutical Industry” emphasizing the landscape of the forces shaping the next years, science is promising with uncertain translation situations, industry would be well-served collaboratively such as in vitro safety assessment, clinical trial design and common manufacturing technology, to improve contributing forces. The second keynote speaker Samit Hirawat (he/him) Hirawat, MD, Executive Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Head of #Drug Development, Bristol Myers Squibb emphasized on the urgency of developing #transformational medicines through innovations at speed. The next plenary speaker was Allen Templeton, Ph.D., Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences & #Clinical Supply of Merck Research Labs. He discussed multiple present challenges of drug product development in an era of increasing modality and drug delivery complexity. Following that, leaders from the IQ consortium, including Rosa Sanchez, AVP, in Merck & Co., Inc. and IQ Board of director, Todd R. Hollis Bunch, PhD, VP, at Bristol Myers Squibb BMS, Maureen Cruz, PhD, Director, at Faegre Drinker @Biddle & Reath LLP, @Sean Maguire, VMD, MS, Director, at GSK, and Islam Younis, PhD, Senior Director, at Merck & Co., Inc., had a fireside chat on “Industry Collaboration on Life Science”, where they shared the collaboration among the member companies in the consortium, building the capability of the whole industry to solve challenges in regulatory, novel modalities and accelerated timelines in pharma and life sciences. The election results of 2025-2026 SAPA President and 2024-2025 Executive Council members were announced by David Cragin, PhD, DABT, congratulations to Dr. Wei Ding, who had been serving SAPA for several years and we believe he will lead SAPA to make a leap in the coming years. After Plenary Session I, a Legal Short Course was held during lunch break, where the Founder and Principal of THC Lawyers, Ran He, PhD, JD, led the audience to explore the legal frameworks and regulations that entrepreneurs and investors must navigate. Stay tuned for our afternoon 6 parallel sessions. And welcome to register on site. 👉 Don't miss out ！Register onsite: SAPA 2024 Annual conference: Time: Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28, 2024 Location: Hyatt Regency New Brunswick,2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Event information and brochure, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eFKMgEYC #Pharmaceutical #Biotech #Network #SAPAHQ #SAPA #Legal #innovation

[2024 SAPA Annual Conference] Parallel Session F on Saturday afternoon of Sep 28th: Interested in the frontiers of #Clinical Development and #Regulatory? Come join us in the afternoon of Sep 28th. We have invited Dr. Joseph Eid, Dr. Chaohong Fan, Dr. Francisco Leon, Michelle Ponpipom, Scott Schliebner, Christopher Ung, Dr. Jian Wang, and Dr. Li Yan etc to lead us on the discussion of the following topics: FDA Regulatory Perspectives: Clinical Trial Designs and Drug Development for Gene and Cellular Products Oncology Drug Development: New Frontiers and FDA Considerations in a Rapidly Evolving Landscape Finding a gem in the rough Charting New Paths: A Journey of Career Growth and Transition And more Industrial veterans will join regulatory experts to discuss strategies and execution of drug development in the era of global development and precision medicine. Case studies will be used to illustrate clinical development plans that are tailored to select the best indication and maximize the asset value. Seasoned drug developers will share their own experiences in saving “failed” assets and turning these abandoned compounds into blockbuster medicines. Critical regulatory considerations including trial population diversity and companion diagnosis in multi-regional trials will be highlighted. A panel of experts will discuss innovative approaches to realize the value of globalization of drug development from broad ethnic representation to budget, timeline, and commercial launch sequence. Don’t miss out the on-site registration opportunity! For more information and registration, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eFKMgEYC Online Registration is currently closed, but on-site registration will be on September 27 & 28, 2024 Time:  Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28, 2024 Location: Hyatt Regency New Brunswick,2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 ##SAPA #SAPAHQ #SAPAAC #AnnualConference #Innovation #Resilience #LifeScience #Pharmaceutical #Biotech #MedTech #IndustryInsights #NetworkingOpportunity #ProfessionalDevelopment

[2024 SAPA Annual Conference] Parallel Session – Drug Discovery on Saturday afternoon of Sep 28th: Interested in the Highlights of Current #DrugDiscovery? Come join us in the afternoon of Sep 28th. We have invited Prof. Zhiping Pang from Rutgers, Dr. Yang Shen from Regeneron, Tom Tucker from Merck, and Dr. Weiping Shao from AstraZeneca to lead us on the discussion of the following topics: Bispecific antibody discovery State-dependent synaptic regulation by GLP-1 in energy homeostasis Macrocyclic peptides Immunogenicity, gene therapy, AI/ML prediction Our panel discussion will cover more hot areas in current drug discovery. You are welcomed to come and participate in the drug discovery session. Contemporary and well-respected leaders from academia, the pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries will discuss novel platform technologies and emerging therapeutic approaches, as well as their outlooks on the horizons of drug discovery and development. Their lectures and talks in the session will cover recent trends and advances in protein therapeutics, macrocyclic peptide drugs, biology in GLP-1 and etc. Don’t miss out the registration opportunity. For more information and registration, please visit: 2024 Annual Conference | SAPA (sapaweb.org) SAPA 2024 Annual conference: Time: Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28, 2024 Location: Hyatt Regency New Brunswick,2 Albany St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 ##SAPA #SAPAHQ #SAPAAC #AnnualConference #Innovation #Resilience #LifeScience #Pharmaceutical #Biotech #MedTech #IndustryInsights #NetworkingOpportunity #ProfessionalDevelopment