Zheng Wei

Dr. Zheng Wei has been serving as the CEO since he co-founded the company in 2012. He has over 25 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience in the autoimmune diseases and inflammation therapeutic areas. Prior to co-founding Connect, Dr. Zheng was Director of Immunology at Arena Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw its immunology discovery programs. Prior to serving at Arena, Dr. Zheng was a founding scientist at ChemoCentryx. During his 10-year tenure at ChemoCentryx, he led the implementation of the company's proprietary technology platform, and the discovery of drug candidates that entered Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for autoimmune disease indications including Crohn's disease. His discovery research contributed significantly to the landmark strategic alliance between the company and GSK. Prior to joining ChemoCentryx, Dr. Zheng was a scientist at Glycomed (acquired by Ligand Pharmaceuticals). He also conducted immunology research at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Zheng is an inventor of 16 issued patents and several pending patent applications on immunology related therapeutic agents and technologies. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California at Davis.