Leadership

Dr. Zhu brings over 20 years of CMC experience in small molecule drug development and GMP manufacturing supporting IND- through NDA-stage filings. Before joining Pliant as Vice President of CMC in October 2021, Dr. Zhu led the CMC function for Epirium, where he managed the CMC team’s successful advancement of three novel clinical candidates into early-stage clinical development. Prior to Epirium, Dr. Zhu was the head of CMC at Zentalis where he led the CMC team’s management of four clinical-stage small molecule drug development programs at various development stages. Dr. Zhu has held CMC leadership roles at Auspex, Ardea Biosciences, and Chiron in the development of small molecule drug candidates across multiple therapeutic areas and development stages. Dr. Zhu received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in chemistry from Sichuan University, his Ph.D. from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and has completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Toronto.