[THE INVESTOR] Olix, Korea’s RNA-interference drug developer, said on Sept. 17 it has tapped former Boston Biomedical executive Wei Li to lead its new entity in the US.

Li has been appointed as Chief Development Officer of Olix to run the US unit, which will be set up in Boston next month and build up close networks with big pharma companies.

 

Wei Li

Prior to joining Olix, he worked as the vice president of Boston Biomedical for 11 years, which was acquired by Japan’s Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma in a deal worth US$2.6 billion in 2012.

“We hired Wei Li for direct and swift communication with global big pharma firms as they are showing great interest in Olix’s RNA-interference platform and pipeline,” the company said in a statement.

RNA interference, or RNAi, is a technology that is revolutionizing the way that researchers study gene expression. Its discoverers were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006.

The technology came under the limelight when the US Food and Drug Administration approved a first-of-its-kind gene therapy product that turns off the expression of an undesired protein using a small interfering RNA in August after over a decade of pursuing RNAi for human therapy.

According to Olix, it is the only Korean company that is currently conducting clinical trials with RNAi technology here and overseas. Its key pipeline includes skin scar therapy OLX101, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis drug OLX201 and OLX301, treatment for wet and dry macular degeneration.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)