Alum's biotech company becomes first in China to start clinical trials of Car-T cancer therapy

Frank Zhang, Ph.D. ‘95, is the chairman and chief executive officer of GenScript Biotech Corporation, the first company in China to start clinical trials of CAR-T cancer therapy. 

After graduating from Duke, Zhang was an associate principal scientist at Schering-Plough until he founded GenScript in 2002. GenScript recently became the first company to earn approval from the Chinese government to begin clinical trials of a novel cancer treatment called CAR-T therapy to treat multiple myeloma. 

Though based in New Jersey, GenScript conducts much of its research and production in Nanjing, China. The company is a leader in life sciences research and early drug development and offers products and services such as gene synthesis, protein synthesis and custom antibody development. 

According to the company’s website, it is also the most-cited biotech company in the world, with an average of 4,180 citations per year.

CAR-T therapy essentially engineers the body’s immune system to identify and attack tumor cells. Legend Biotech Company, a subsidiary of GenScript, presented a study in which 33 of 35 multiple myeloma patients entered clinical remission within two months of receiving therapy. 

However, current drugs used in CAR-T treatment can cost between $373,000 and $475,000, limiting access. Possible risks to GenScript include failure of its CAR-T trials and failure to commercialize the drug. 

In December, the company partnered with Janssen Biotech, a branch of Johnson & Johnson. GenScript received $350 million from the company and agreed to split the profits and overseas costs with Janssen.

The company went public in 2016 on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with its initial public offering at HK$1.31. Since then, the share price has increased by 20 times. The company's stock peaked in January at HK$32.35, but has fallen 33 percent since the end of May.