Ning Shan, PhD is an experienced executive with over 18 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. He has demonstrated extensive expertise in the evaluation and selection of drug candidates, pre-formulation and formulation, preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies, cGMP manufacturing, regulatory filing, and protection of intellectual property. Dr. Shan is a renowned subject matter expert in organic solid-state chemistry, with a special focus on pharmaceutical cocrystals and crystalline solids. He invented “solvent-drop grinding,” the innovative technology now used worldwide as a standard tool for crystal form screening.
Previously, Dr. Shan was a Director of Preclinical Development at Thar Pharmaceuticals, where he has served as a founding member of Thar’s research and development. At Thar, Dr. Shan led the scientific team that discovered and developed Thar’s leading T121 program from preclinical stage to Phase 3. Thar’s T121 is a composition-of-matter patented, Phase 3-ready, prodrug-like oral version of zoledronic acid that is targeted for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome, an orphan disease with no approved FDA or EMA therapies. In October 2016, Thar was acquired by Grünenthal GmbH, which continued the Phase 3 development of T121. Dr. Shan also served as a senior manager at Insys Therapeutics, a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a research fellow in Singapore.
As a prominent scientist, Dr. Shan has continuously been involved in academic activities. He has served as an adjunct professor and taken supervising/teaching responsibilities at three research universities. He has authored 34 peer-reviewed journal publications with over 3000 citations. He has also served as an inventor of more than 50 issued and pending patents. Dr. Shan received his PhD degree in Physical Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, UK and his BSc degree in Chemistry from Wuhan University, China.