METiS today announced the appointment of Hongming Chen, Sc.D., as President and Head of Research & Development.
“Hongming is a proven biotech executive and successful entrepreneur and brings a wealth of experience in driving early-stage programs through development and into the clinic,” said Chris Lai, CEO and Founder, METiS Therapeutics. “Her leadership and business acumen will be invaluable as we advance our pipeline and progress our AI-driven drug discovery and delivery platform.”
“I’m incredibly excited to join METiS during this early stage of the company’s growth and to lead the expansion of our operations in the U.S.,” said Dr. Chen. “The company’s AiTEM platform leverages machine learning, AI and quantum simulation to discover novel drug candidates, and I look forward to working with the extraordinary team at METiS on advancing the platform.”
Prior to joining Metis, Dr. Chen served as Chief Scientific Officer at Kala Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company she helped found in 2010. At Kala, she successfully translated a novel nanoparticle technology from bench discovery through Phase III clinical trials and FDA approval, and helped to attract significant investments to the company, including an initial public offering in 2017. Prior to Kala, Dr. Hongming helped start and build TransForm Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2005. Dr. Hongming has also held various research positions at AstraZeneca and Merck. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of the Controlled Release Society and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Hongming holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UT Austin and an M.S. and an Sc.D. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
