Zai Lab is a patient-focused, innovative, commercial-stage, global biopharmaceutical company based in China and the U.S. We are focused on bringing best-in-class and first-in-class medicines for oncology, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases and neurological disorders to patients in greater China and around the world.
The company was founded by Dr. Samantha Du, Chairperson and CEO, in 2014 to help address significant unmet medical needs in China and to be at the forefront of healthcare reforms in China aimed at supporting and accelerating development of innovative medicines and therapies. Zai Lab’s experienced team has secured partnerships with leading global biopharmaceutical companies, generating a broad pipeline of innovative late-stage drug candidates, five of which have now been launched in China. Based on the company’s extensive track record of execution, Zai Lab has earned the reputation as a trusted partner of choice for global biopharmaceutical companies seeking to access the Chinese market as well as to find a long-term strategic partner for global clinical development. Through these partnerships, Zai Lab has built a leading late-stage oncology portfolio among innovative Chinese biotech companies. The company has supplemented its pipeline with product candidates advanced by an in-house discovery team, with the aim of filing 1-2 global Investigational New Drug applications per year.
Zai Lab is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with end-to-end capabilities. Zai has internal R&D centers to advance its discovery pipeline, a strong clinical development team that currently manages more than 50 ongoing or planned clinical trials, small-molecule and large-molecule manufacturing facilities, an experienced regulatory affairs group, and a highly specialized commercial team to support marketing of innovative products. We believe this integrated approach provides sustainable competitive advantages for Zai Lab and its partners.
Zai Lab has significantly expanded its global presence in recent years. The company now has its headquarters and an R&D center in Shanghai, clinical and regulatory offices in Beijing, manufacturing and R&D facilities in Suzhou, commercial offices in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guangzhou, and U.S. offices in San Francisco and Cambridge. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had a global team of about 2,100 employees.
Zai Lab’s longer-term goal is to become a leading global biopharmaceutical company, leveraging its China-based competencies and resources to provide innovative healthcare products to patients around the world, including the United States and Europe.
The near-term focus of Zai Lab is to develop and commercialize innovative products in greater China, which due to its large population is the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world. It is also a fast-growing pharmaceutical market, driven by important structural changes in the regulatory environment. A few decades ago, China did not provide healthcare coverage for many of its citizens, and drug development in China lagged behind the United States and Europe. Many serious diseases, including those with higher incidences such as lung cancer and gastric cancer, were inadequately treated. Today, China provides near-universal healthcare coverage, and it has undertaken healthcare reforms to encourage the development and commercialization of innovative medicines. China has become one of the most dynamic R&D hubs for innovative medicines in the world. We hope to address many unmet medical needs remaining in China with medicines that are advancing in partners’ and Zai Lab’s own pipelines. Drug development in China by an experienced partner like Zai Lab can occur in parallel with that in the rest of the world, and Zai Lab can even accelerate the global timeline for drug development of its partners.
The Zai Lab team has extensive experience working at the highest levels of the biopharmaceutical industry to develop and commercial products to meet serious unmet medical needs of patients both in China and globally. Every day, the company leverages that expertise along with its commitment to quality, speed, and the most rigorous science to rapidly advance and commercialize its partners’ and internally discovered pipeline assets. Within this fast-growing and evolving ecosystem, Zai Lab will continue to realize opportunities to expand its product portfolio and deepen its key strategic capabilities in drug discovery, development and commercialization.
