FUSION BioVENTURE

Fusion-logo-glow

FUSION BioVenture is an incubation, innovation, and strategic investment platform of Fosun Pharma

ABOUT US

Fosun Pharma US Innovation Hub (FUSION BioVenture) is an innovation center and incubation platform to advance breakthroughs for human health.

Founded in late 2018 and based in the Boston area, FUSION has incubated and launched Archimmune Therapeutics Inc. and Leverna Therapeutics Inc., as well as licensed in two innovative programs.

OUR MISSION

Create value by incubating and investing in early-stage cutting-edge platforms and technologies

OUR STRATEGY

  • Incubate innovative early-stage programs and technology platforms
  • Build NewCos and provide experienced leadership, scientific expertise, and infrastructure support
  • Enrich R&D pipelines with first-in-class/best-in-class assets
  • Build a collaborative ecosystem with academia and other biopharmaceuticals

WHAT WE DO

STRATEGIC INVESTMENT

Invest in cutting-edge technology platforms and launch portfolio companies

Invest in a wide range of therapeutic modalities and areas

image of DNA structure

INCUBATION MODEL

INCUBATE AND LAUNCH NEWCO
INCUBATE PROGRAMS
LICENSING
Fusion-logo

INCUBATION STRATEGY

WHAT FUSION OFFERS

FUNDING
LEADERSHIP (EXPERIENCED TEAM)
RESOURCES
ACCESS TO A WIDE RANGE OF RESOURCES THROUGH FOSUN PHARMA

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES & STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

Archimmune-Logo

Archimmune Therapeutics was founded in 2019 by FUSION BioVenture of Fosun Pharma. Archimmune is an immuno-oncology platform company focusing on developing nanoparticle-based personalized cancer vaccines (ACNP) and multi-functional immunotherapeutics (MINP) including bispecific T-cell activators (DINP) and trispecific NK engagers (nano-TriNKE).

Leverna-transparent

Leverna Therapeutics is a newco incubated by FUSION BioVenture of Fosun Pharma, with the goal of establishing a powerful RNA-targeting company. The company will be able to “drug the undruggable” by designing antisense oligos and small molecules to modify mRNA regulation. Launched in early 2022, it has a core scientific team made up of RNA biologists and plans to employ AI to help with target discovery and therapeutic design. The company currently has two programs, one for neurodegenerative disease and the other for metabolic disease.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

2021-02 FUSION established partnership with Revere Pharmaceuticals to develop RAC1 small molecule inhibitor for oncology.

VERIMMUNE

2022-05 FUSION established partnership with VerImmune to develop VLP-based therapeutics product in Immuno-Oncology

FUSION TEAM

Director of Biology,
FUSION BioVenture
Director of Research Operations,
FUSION BioVenture
Executive Assistant/Office Manager,
FUSION BioVenture

Archimmune Therapeutics

Principal Scientist, Chemistry,
Archimmune Therapeutics
Senior Scientist, Chemistry,
Archimmune Therapeutics
Senior Scientist, Immuno-oncology,
Archimmune Therapeutics

Leverna Therapeutics

Co-Founder, President and CSO,
Leverna Therapeutics
Head of RNA Platform,
Leverna Therapeutics
Director Neuroscience,
Leverna Therapeutics
Principal Scientist, Bioinformatics,
Leverna Therapeutics
Associate Principal Scientist, Biology,
Leverna Therapeutics
Senior Scientist,
Leverna Therapeutics

CONTACT US

FUSION BioVenture
1 Hartwell Place, Suite 305
Lexington, MA 02421

Email: fusion@fosunpharma.com

FUSION BioVenture

 

Lijun Wu, PhD

Chair, Founder and CEO FUSION BioVenture, U.S. Innovation Hub Fosun Pharma

Dr. Lijun Wu is the Chief Scientific Officer and Founder and head of FUSION BioVenture.  She founded FUSION, Fosun Pharma’s innovation incubation platform in the US, which incubated and launched Archimmune Therapeutics and Leverna Therapeutics, where she is the Chair of the Board. She is also the acting CEO of Leverna. Prior to joining Fosun Pharma in 2018, she was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Atlas Venture and Senior Vice President of Preclinical and Clinical Development at Delinia.  Prior to that, Dr. Wu held various senior leadership positions including Concert Pharmaceuticals (VP), Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals (VP), Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (Executive Director), and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Director).

Dr. Wu is a seasoned executive with >25-years of experience in R&D, investment, and BD in startups established biotech, and large pharmaceutical companies in the US and across borders.  She is an author of ~70 peer-reviewed publications, an inventor on a number of patents, and the recipient of Massachusetts High Tech’s “Women to Watch” award.  She has been serving on the advisory council of IBBS/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is a member of JHU’s Society of Scholars.

Dr. Wu received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology from Northwestern University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Updated 10.2023

FOSUN PHARMA USA

 

Lijun Wu, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer Fosun Pharma & Founder and Head of FUSION BioVenture

Dr. Lijun Wu is the Chief Scientific Officer and Founder, Head of FUSION BioVenture. She founded FUSION, Fosun Pharma’s innovation incubation platform in the US, which incubated andlaunched Archimmune Therapeutics and Leverna Therapeutics, where she is the Chair of the Board. She is also the acting CEO of Leverna. Prior to joining Fosun Pharma in 2018, she was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Atlas Venture and Senior Vice President of Preclinical and Clinical Development at Delinia. Prior to that, Dr. Wu held various senior leadership positions including Concert Pharmaceuticals (VP), Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals (VP), Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (Executive Director), and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Director).

Dr. Wu is a seasoned executive with >25-years of experience in R&D, investment, and BD in startups established biotech, and large pharmaceutical companies in the US and across borders. She is an author of ~70 peer-reviewed publications, an inventor on a number of patents, and the recipient of Massachusetts High Tech’s “Women to Watch” award. She has been serving on the advisory council of IBBS/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and is a member of JHU’s Society of Scholars.

Dr. Wu received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology from Northwestern University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

FUSION BioVenture

 

Lawrence Brown, Ph.D., J.D

Head of Legal

Dr. Lawrence Brown serves as Associate General Counsel, Head of Legal (Fusion BioVenture) with responsibility for all aspects of the business unit’s legal affairs. He has over 20 years of experience providing advice and shaping strategies relevant to all aspects of intellectual property, litigation, commercial transactional, commercial risk, pharmaceutical regulatory, and pharmaceutical antitrust issues. Prior to joining Fusion, Larry served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, IP – Generics at Endo International/Par Pharmaceutical for 15 years. Before his years in-house, Larry had worked in IP litigation, IP prosecution, and biotechnology/pharmaceutical transactions at law firms in both New York City and Boston. Further, prior to his career transition to law, Larry was a postdoctoral fellow in the Biomedical Engineering Department of Boston University, continuing at that institution his graduate work in computational biophysics and molecular modeling, with a focus on protein-nucleic acid/protein-protein free energy computations, docking, molecular mechanics, and threading.

Dr. Brown holds an A.B. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University, a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Princeton University, and a J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law. He is admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts as well as the United States Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Given his scientific and legal backgrounds, Larry enjoys being at the intersection of the two, asking the “what ifs” and “why nots”, questions that are salient to Fusion’s pursuits on the cutting edge of new biotechnological solutions.

FUSION BioVenture

 

Wenwen Sha, Ph.D.

Director of Biology

Dr. Wenwen Sha joined FUSION BioVenture in April 2022 as the Director of Biology. At FUSION, she is responsible to incubate novel platforms, building ideas into newcos, and license in cutting-edge preclinical platforms/assets for Fosun Pharma. Prior to joining FUSION, she was a Lab Head/Principal Scientist at Sanofi. Dr. Sha has extensive experience in antibody drug discovery in Immuno-Oncology, including drug discovery, target validation, and pre-IND/IND filing, with a track of record of delivering HER2/CD28xCD3 tri-specific antibodies to phase I clinic.

Dr. Sha received Ph.D. in immunology and virology from the Institute Pasteur of Shanghai, and as an exchange visitor at Baylor Institute for Immunology Research during her Ph.D. training. After graduation, she conducted her postdoctoral research in AstraZeneca/Medimmune and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

FUSION BioVenture

 

Kadia (Mullings) Ouellette

Director of Research Operations

Kadia Ouellette joined FUSION in 2022 as the Director of Research Operations, bringing significant experience as a project leader and scientific operations driver in the drug development and biotechnology industry. Mrs. Ouellette has worked in the life science industry from small startups to large global conglomerates. She started her work as a bench scientist at GreenLight Biosciences where she transitioned into operations developing her curiosity, project management, and problem-solving skills to streamline and support scientific activities. These skills were further developed at Biogen, Amgen, and Agilent Technologies. At these companies, Kadia served as a consultant and project leader to many multimillion-dollar global transformative projects supporting research, development, pilot, and clinical teams. Mrs. Ouellette holds an MEng in Chemical Engineering and an MSc in Biochemistry both from the University of Waterloo, and a BS in Chemistry from Howard University.

FUSION BioVenture

 

Valecia Holm

Executive Assistant/Office Manager

Valecia Holm joined FUSION BioVenture as Executive Assistant/Office Manager in 2022, supporting the day-to-day operations in areas of executive support, office management, and working on special projects across various areas of the organization.

Prior to joining FUSION BioVenture, she served as Executive Assistant/Office Manager at Erytech Pharma Inc. and had prior work experience as a Clinical Trial Associate and Supply Chain Logistics CRA. She also worked at Synta Pharmaceuticals in a similar capacity as an Executive Assistant/Office Manager.

Valecia studied Liberal Arts at Pinkerton Academy and has a 15-year background as an Ophthalmic Technician.

Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.

Linping Zhang, PhD

President, Head of R&D

Dr. Linping Zhang is the SVP of Early Development for FUSION BioVenture, responsible for driving the R&D strategic planning and effective execution for FUSION BioVenture and its portfolio companies. Linping brings over twenty years of experience with biotech, pharma, and venture capital companies in driving R&D strategies, leading early development and clinical translation, conducting due diligence and in-/out-licensing in the field of oncology, ophthalmology, autoimmune and infectious diseases.

Dr. Zhang previously served as Venture Partner at 6 Dimensions Capital with major responsibility of leading clinical-stage newco incubation and launch in the immune-oncology space. Prior to that, Dr. Zhang was Executive Director and Head of Translational Sciences at BioMed Valley Discoveries, where she led and oversaw multiple cancer immunotherapy programs from IND-enabling to phase 2 clinical studies. She joined BioMed Valley from Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), where she was responsible for portfolio and program management and leading multiple global cross-functional teams to advance an array of biologics and small molecule products from late research to Ph2 development for ophthalmic and oncology indications.

Dr. Zhang started her industry career at Infinity Pharmaceuticals as a founding scientist and project leader where she was instrumental in transforming the chemistry platform developed in her postdoc research lab at Harvard Medical School into the industry scale. She holds a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University at Buffalo, an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and received a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Tianjin University in China.
Updated 10.2023

Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.

Richard Huang, PhD

Vice President, Head of CMC

Richard Huang joined Archimmune Therapeutics as Vice President, Head of CMC in 2023.

Richard is a seasoned pharmaceutical scientist and nanomedicine expert, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience from both academia and industry.

 

Prior to joining Archimmune Therapeutics, Richard worked as the Group Head and Distinguished Scientist of non-viral gene therapy at the Genomic Medicine Unit of Sanofi. There he led groundbreaking efforts in gene replacement, gene editing, and in vivo CAR-T. Prior to that, he served as the Vice President of Process Sciences and Manufacturing at LEAF Pharmaceuticals and LEAF4Life Inc., during which he developed the formulation and process for four IND enabling GLP tox study products and achieved an emergency use approval in France for a COVID-19 related ARDS treatment.

 

Before these impactful experiences, Richard held various roles at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals for over nine years, leading efforts in liposome formulation, process development, and GMP manufacturing. Notably, they received approval for liposomal irinotecan (Onivyde) for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer during his tenure.

 

Before transitioning into the industry, Richard spent nearly eight years at the University of California, San Francisco, focusing on advanced drug delivery systems using polymers and lipids. During this time, he worked on the development of a series of sterol-modified lipids, significantly advancing stable liposome formulation.

 

Richard holds a Ph.D. in Polymer Sciences from Fudan University and a BS in Chemistry from Wuhan University. Additionally, he is both a CMC Certified Professional and a Pharmaceutical Development Certified Professional. His dedication to furthering knowledge in his field is evident in his over 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers and numerous patents.
Updated 10.2023

Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Hong Ren, Ph.D.

Head of Pharmacology, Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.

 
Dr. Hong Ren joined Archimmune Therapeutics in June 2022 as Head of Pharmacology, responsible for preclinical pharmacology and translational research studies in support of Archimmune’s nanoparticle-based immunotherapeutics development.

Prior to joining Archimmune, Dr. Ren served as the Program Lead for multiple therapeutic antibody programs at Bluefin Biomedicine and Dynamicure Biotechnology, including antibody-drug conjugate and immune checkpoint inhibitors. She has over 15 years of experience in antibody drug discovery from concept to IND-enabling studies, focusing on preclinical biology and MOA studies for drug candidates in oncology and immuno-oncology.

Dr. Ren received a BS in Biology from Wuhan University and a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School with Dr. Klaus Rajewsky.

Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Jun Li, Ph.D.

Principal Scientist, Chemistry

Dr. Jun Li joined the Archimmune Therapeutics team in 2022 as a Principal Scientist, Chemistry, focusing on developing nanoparticle-based immunotherapeutics against cancer. Dr. Li brought to Archimmune extensive expertise in polymer synthesis, characterization, and modification, as well as 15 years of experience in developing various polymer-based materials for implantable medical devices through his tenures at Pykus Therapeutics, Hyalex Orthopedics, and Teleflex. Dr. Li received his BS in Applied Chemistry and Ph.D. in Polymer Science from Peking University.

Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Peijiao Wang, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist, Chemistry

Dr. Peijiao Wang joined Archimmune Therapeutics as a Senior Scientist, in Chemistry in 2022, focusing on developing nanoparticle-based immunotherapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Prior to joining Archimmune, she was a Senior Chemist at QD Vision and Senior Scientist at Osmetech Molecular Diagnostics. Dr. Wang has extensive experience in developing nanoparticle-based materials for biomedical and lighting applications. Dr. Wang received her BS in Chemistry from Tongji University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University.

Archimmune Therapeutics, Inc.

Xiyu Ke, PhD

Senior Scientist, Immuno-oncology

Dr. Xiyu Ke joined Archimmune Therapeutics as a Senior Scientist, in Immuno-oncology, focusing on developing nanoparticle systems for cancer immunotherapy.

Prior to joining Archimmune Therapeutics, Xiyu worked as a Scientist at GreenLight Biosciences, designing and developing lipid nanoparticles for mRNA vaccine delivery.

 Xiyu holds a Ph.D.  in Nanomedicine and Biomaterials from the National University of Singapore. He completed his postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on designing and developing functionalized nanoparticle systems for various biomedical applications, including cancer immunotherapy, cancer chemotherapy, mRNA vaccine, and antimicrobial polymers.
Updated 10.2023

Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Avery (Qinghong) Yan, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, President and CSO, Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Avery (Qinghong) Yan is the Co-Founder, President, and CSO of Leverna Therapeutics, a Boston-based startup company focusing on developing antisense oligonucleotides and small molecules for RNA targeting. Avery was the Head of Biology at FUSION BioVenture of Fosun Pharma USA. Prior to joining FUSION Bioventure in 2020, she was the Cell and Molecular Biology team lead at the Translational Systems Biology group at Amgen.
Avery obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Stony Brook University and completed her postdoctoral research at Columbia University.

Avery has extensive experience in R&D, investment, business development, and start-up incubation in biotech and pharma companies. Her drug development experience includes a broad range of modalities, including small/large molecule, ASO, siRNA, CAR-T, TCR-T and PROTAC programs. She has a track record of leading projects, closing deals, attracting talents and building teams.

At Amgen, Avery led the predictive and mechanistic toxicology research and supported over 15 projects with 5 IND filings. At FUSION BioVenture, she led license-in of preclinical assets into Fosun Pharma and the incubation of a US-based newco (later Leverna). In 2022, Avery started running Leverna full time with funding from Fosun Pharma USA and established the company as an RNA-targeting platform company with multiple assets in CNS and related disease areas.

Avery is also the co-founder and President of BioSpark Group, a non-profit organization based in the Boston area, focusing on establishing a biotechnology ecosystem with a collaborative and supportive scholar network, promoting leadership and entrepreneurship, and facilitating the translation of scientific discoveries in life sciences.

Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Zuo Zhang, Ph.D.

Head of RNA Platform, Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Zuo Zhang is the Head of RNA platform at Leverna Therapeutics. He is responsible for developing RNA based innovative therapies to treat human diseases with unmet medical needs. Dr. Zhang has extensive experience and expertise in RNA related research and therapeutics. Prior joining Leverna/Fosunpharma, He had over 13 years of industrial working experience at Merck and Stoke Therapeutics. Dr Zhang’s drug discovery expertise covers several disease areas from early to late stage development, including small molecule, antibody to antisense oligonucleotide. Dr. Zhang got his PhD from the University of Connecticut studying mRNA transport and editing. He then worked as a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Adrian Krainer’s lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, working on mRNA splicing, decay and therapeutics.

Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Zhou Han, Ph.D.

Director Neuroscience

Dr. Zhou Han joined the Leverna Therapeutics team in 2023 to lead the group’s preclinical drug discovery and development programs for CNS diseases. Prior to joining Leverna Therapeutics, Dr. Han was a Senior Principal Scientist at Stoke Therapeutics, developing antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics for rare genetic disorders. Prior to joining Stoke Therapeutics, he studied HCV drug resistance at Bristol Myers Squibb.

Dr. Han obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Connecticut Health Center, studying photoreceptor cell biology. He received his postdoctoral training at Yale University and developed novel genetically encoded voltage indicators useful for all-optical electrophysiology.

Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Sebastien Weyn, Ph.D.

Principal Scientist, Bioinformatics

Dr.Sebastien Weyn joined the Leverna Therapeutics team in 2022 to lead the group’s bioinformatics efforts aimed at designing RNA-targeted therapies. He previously was a Bioinformatics Scientist at Stoke Therapeutics working on antisense oligonucleotide therapies for rare genetic disorders. Dr. Weyn obtained his Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies at Columbia University using bioinformatics to study the regulation of RNA alternative splicing.

Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

Chunsu Xu, Ph.D.

Associate Principal Scientist, Biology

Dr. Chunsu Xu joined Leverna Therapeutic in January 2022 as a biology lead for target and disease review, and competitive landscape analysis. Before joining Leverna, she worked for the FUSION team as a scientific analyst. She covered technology platforms including RNA therapeutics, LNP delivery technologies, epigenetic therapeutics, RNA editing, etc.

Dr.Xu obtained her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Stony Brook University. Her Ph.D. study combined genetic, imaging, and behavior methods dissecting disease mutations’ contribution to memory at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY, USA. After her Ph.D., she worked as a research fellow at Novartis’s Friedrich MIescher Institute (Basel, Switzerland) for CNS disease research.

Leverna Therapeutics, Inc.

Binkai Chi, Ph.D.

Senior Scientist

Dr. Binkai Chi joined the Leverna Therapeutics team in 2023 as a Senior Scientist. Dr. Chi has extensive experience in RNA biology and cell biology, primarily RNA binding proteins and their roles in neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to joining Leverna Therapeutics, Dr. Chi was serving as the Postdoctoral Research Associate at Dr. Reed’s lab at Harvard Medical School, using gene-edited ESC/iPSCs to study ALS.

Dr. Chi received a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, where he studied cellular and viral mRNA transport mechanisms.