(Yicai) Oct. 10 -- The former chairman of Chinese pharmaceutical giant Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical has been appointed chairman of the board at Everest Medicines as the innovative drugmaker prepares to bring its first personalized cancer vaccine to market.

Wu Yifang’s appointment comes just one day after he was named executive operating partner of CBC Group, Everest’s parent company. Before Wu came on board, the chairman was Fu Wei, chief executive officer of CBC Group. Fu will now become non-executive director and honorary chairman of Everest, Shanghai-based Everest said today.

56-year-old Wu has more than 30 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Everest, he served as executive president of Fosun International and chairman and CEO of its core subsidiary Fosun Pharma for nearly a decade.

Wu led Fosun Pharma’s transformation into a leading global biopharmaceutical company and was instrumental in introducing German biotech firm BioNTech’s mRNA technology to the China market. He also founded the Fosun Pharma subsidiary Wanbang Biochemical Pharmaceutical and served as chairman and CEO of the unit, laying the foundation for the company’s work in biomedical innovation.

mRNA technology is one of Wu’s areas of expertise, and it is also a major focus for Everest. The firm has built a localized AI + mRNA development platform, targeting oncology and autoimmune diseases. Everest’s personalized mRNA therapeutic cancer vaccine EVM16 was used on its first patient in March in an Investigator-Initiated Trial at the Beijing Cancer Hospital.

With strong financial reserves and growing research and development as well as commercialization capabilities, Everest aims to achieve an operating profit this year.

Despite the news, Everest’s share price [HKG:1952] closed down 3.9 percent today at HKD53.80 (USD7).

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor