PATH announces leader for China country program

PATH has named Mr. YanXiang (Michael) Wang as its country program leader for China. Mr. Wang will be based in PATH's Beijing office beginning May 9, 2016.

"I am pleased to welcome Michael to PATH, where his impressive background and leadership will be incredible assets to our China country program and product development portfolio," said Dr. David Kaslow, PATH's vice president for Product Development. "Over the course of his career, Michael has built strong relationships with Chinese pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries, as well as with government agencies and key stakeholders that are critical partners to PATH in China."

Since 1979, PATH has collaborated with Chinese government agencies, research institutes, nongovernmental organizations, and manufacturers to address the country's health needs and build its capacity to contribute to global health. PATH's public-private partnership model for developing health products has been key to reaching several milestones.

As leader of PATH China country program, Mr. Wang will oversee partnerships with Chinese manufacturers to develop and produce low-cost, high-quality health products across vaccines, medical devices, and drugs. PATH has collaborated with both state-owned and private companies to develop multivalent rotavirus vaccine and live attenuated influenza vaccine, and conduct overseas phase III clinical trials for bivalent oral poliomyelitis vaccine. PATH's work with the Chinese manufacturer Chengdu Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd., beginning in 2006, resulted in an effective and affordable vaccine against Japanese encephalitis being the first vaccine made in China to obtain World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification, and has allowed the vaccine to reach millions of children throughout Southeast Asia.

PATH also has collaborated with a Chinese private company to develop, manufacture, and introduce an innovative contraceptive–the Woman's Condom–a next-generation female condom that studies have found to be more acceptable to users than earlier products. In March 2016, the Woman's Condom received the prequalification from both WHO and United Nations Population Fund, an important step toward reaching more women with this inventive product.

PATH is partnering with a Chinese pharmaceutical company to seek US Food and Drug Administration approval and WHO prequalification of a locally invented drug to treat a neglected disease. In addition, the PATH China country program has efforts under way with the Chinese CDC to implement a comprehensive tuberculosis control project.

Mr. Wang's career includes more than 25 years of business development and technical experience and leadership in the pharmaceutical sector. Most recently, he served as an independent consultant and adviser engaging with global and Chinese national companies on pharmaceutical packaging and drug delivery systems, including prefillable syringes, pens, and self-injection devices. Mr. Wang also has held senior positions at GlaxoWellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) Anti-Infectives, Boehringer Ingelheim, Gerresheimer Bunde GmbH, and Becton Dickinson. Nearly 20 years ago, Mr. Wang led an effort with PATH to introduce the first-ever introduction of a plastic prefillable auto-destructive concept, (now known as the Uniject™ injection system), into the Chinese public market.

Mr. Wang holds a BS from the School of Pharmacy, West China University of Medical Sciences, and an MBA from Beijing University.

Uniject is a trademark of BD.

• PATH's China country program.
• PATH's work on the Japanese encephalitis vaccine.
• PATH's work on the Woman's Condom.

Posted May 6, 2016.