Leo Xu

Leo (He) Xu has extensive experience in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Leo (He) currently holds the role of Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Zai Lab since 2023. Prior to that, they were also a Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals from 2022 to 2023.

Leo has also worked at Takeda as a Senior Scientist in the Drug Discovery Sciences department from 2020 to 2022. In this role, they focused on evaluating immuno-oncology targets for targeted protein degradation and led a neuroscience targeted protein degradation program. Leo (He) also specialized in RNA-targeted small molecule libraries.

Before joining Takeda, Leo worked at Takeda Oncology for several years. As a Senior Scientist in Immuno-Oncology Chemistry from 2017 to 2020, they led various immuno-oncology small molecule and antibody-drug conjugate projects. During this time, they played a crucial role in evaluating external antibody conjugation technologies and collaborated with academic and industrial partners. Leo also held positions as Scientist II and Scientist I in Oncology Medicinal Chemistry at Takeda Oncology, where they worked on small molecule drug discovery approaches and chaired a science and technology forum.

Leo started their career as a Postdoc Research Fellow at Harvard University from 2007 to 2008. Leo (He) completed their graduate studies as a Graduate Student at Temple University from 2002 to 2007.

Leo (He) Xu completed their Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at Nanjing University from 1997 to 2001. Leo (He) then pursued their PhD in Organic Chemistry at Temple University from 2002 to 2006. Following that, they undertook a Postdoctoral position in Organic Chemistry at Harvard University from 2007 to 2008.