Dr. Chen (Cheney) Mao is the Chairman and CEO of Viva Biotech. He is primarily responsible for the overall strategic planning and business development of the Group. Dr. Mao has over 20 years of experience in the CRO industry.

Dr. Mao obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fudan University in the PRC and obtained his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from Cornell University in the U.S. After graduation, he served as a director of the Department of Structural Biology of Parker Hughes Institute. He also served as a reviewer on the U.S. National Institutes of Health Review Panel ZRG1 AARR-1(50) about AIDS-related structural biology project grants.

Before joining our Group, Dr. Ye worked as a senior research fellow at Merck & Company, Inc. for over 13 years. During Dr. Ye’s employment with Merck & Company, Inc., he participated in and directed drug research and development projects targeted at diabetes, obesity, and endocrine-related diseases. Dr. Ye obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Fudan University, his master’s degree in chemistry from Montana State University in the U.S., and his Ph.D. degreein chemistry from the University of Minnesota.

Mr. Xiong joined Langhua Pharmaceutical in September 2018. He joined our Group in November 2020 as part of the Group’s acquisition of Langhua Pharmaceutical, he currently serves as the financial director of Langhua Pharmaceutical and is primarily responsible for its financial management.

Mr. Xiong graduated from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology School of Economics with a degree in international economics and trade and from the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law with a degree in law in June 2005. He is qualified to serve as a board secretary for companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange and has been qualified as a senior economist since November 2023.

Ms. Ban joined Langhua Pharmaceutical in 2009 and currently serves as the President. Before joining Langhua Pharmaceutical, Ms. Ban worked at Ninhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. and its affiliated companies from 1996, holding various positions including General Manager of the Pharmaceutical Division and Vice President of Ninhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. Ms. Ban also currently serves as Vice President of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products.

Ms. Ban graduated from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Pharmacy. She obtained a Master of Business Administration degree jointly awarded by Ningbo University and the University of Canberra in 2006, and 2011, she earned an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the China Europe International Business School.

Mr. Zhang obtained his Bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University in 1996 and his Master's degree in Medicinal Chemistry from East China University of Science and Technology in 2003. With nearly 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical API industry and over 10 years of international CDMO collaboration experience, he has led teams multiple through FDA, EDQM, and WHO audits.

Postdoc from Harvard University, Ph.D from University of Montreal

US work experiences with AstraZeneca, Sepracor

Work experiences in China with Asymchem and Porton CMC experiences for APIs of innovative drugs and Generic drugs

Dr. Zhao joined Viva Biotech in 2024, primarily responsible for the CDMO business. Before joining the company, Dr. Zhao held senior management positions in several renowned domestic CRO companies since back to China in 2009. His work spanned nearly all CRO chemical business areas, from medicinal chemistry to process development to GMP production, giving him rich experience in team building and scientific management.

During his tenure at WuXi AppTec, he grew a team from 41 members to over 650 members across three teams within five years. As Vice President at Asymchem, he, as a patent inventor, led the entire R&D process from route design to process development to the GMP production of hundreds of kilograms of N2O-dideuteromethyl dextromethorphan. This process significantly reduced raw material costs by replacing two other expensive deuterated reagents in the original process with deuterated methyl as the sole deuterated reagent.

Before returning to China, he held positions at AMRI, working on process development and scale-up, and at Kalypsys, where as a founding employee, he participated in and led the medicinal chemistry/process development for a Phase II clinical project on PPAR agonists. Dr. Zhao graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in organic synthesis chemistry and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has published 18 research papers in renowned scientific journals and is the inventor of 12 patents.

With a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from Purdue University and over 20 years in Drug Product Development and CMC Regulatory Submission, formerly worked at Amgen, Astellas, and Wyeth in the US.