Nona Biosciences Appoints Dr. Josh Xiao as Chief Scientific Officer to Advance AI-Driven Drug Discovery Platform
核心洞察
Nona Biosciences (搜索) appointed Dr. Josh Xiao (搜索) as Chief Scientific Officer to lead global scientific strategy and oversee technology platform evolution, particularly the AI-driven Hu-mAtrIx (搜索)™ drug discovery platform.
Dr. Xiao brings over 25 years of drug discovery experience from major biopharmaceutical companies including Amgen, Millennium Pharmaceuticals (搜索), and biotechnology startups, with expertise spanning target discovery, antibody engineering, and translational medicine.
The appointment aims to strengthen Nona's competitive advantage through integrated technological capabilities, focusing on the company's proprietary Harbour Mice (搜索)® platform that generates fully human antibodies for diverse therapeutic applications.
Nona Biosciences (搜索), a global biotechnology company advancing biotherapeutic discovery through innovative technology platforms, announced the appointment of Dr. Josh Xiao (搜索) as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) on May 6, 2026. Dr. Xiao will be based in both the US and China and report directly to Dr. Di Hong (搜索), Chief Executive Officer of Nona Biosciences.
Strategic Leadership Role
In his new position, Dr. Xiao will lead the development of Nona's global scientific strategy and oversee the continued evolution of its technology platforms, with particular focus on Hu-mAtrIx (搜索)™, the company's AI-driven drug discovery platform. His mandate includes strengthening the company's long-term competitive advantage through integrated technological capabilities and ecosystem collaboration.
Dr. Xiao will guide the direction of scientific innovation and support the advancement of novel therapeutic approaches across multiple disease areas. Additionally, he will provide leadership to Nona's global Project Leaders, establishing a structured and scalable capability development framework to enhance project execution, deepen scientific insight into partner needs, and enable efficient integration of platform resources.
Extensive Industry Experience
Dr. Xiao brings more than 25 years of experience in drug discovery and leadership across both large biopharmaceutical companies and emerging biotechnology start-ups. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Louisiana State University and completed postdoctoral training at Columbia University.
Most recently, Dr. Xiao served as an entrepreneur in residence at RA Ventures (搜索), the healthcare incubator of RA Capital (搜索), and co-founder of Starfish Medicines (搜索). Prior to that, he held scientific team leadership roles at Amgen, Tularik (搜索) (acquired by Amgen), and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (搜索) (acquired by Takeda (搜索)), and led drug discovery functions at several start-ups. His expertise spans target discovery and validation, antibody discovery and engineering, translational medicines, and IND filing.
Leadership Perspectives
Dr. Di Hong (搜索), Chief Executive Officer of Nona Biosciences (搜索), commented: "We are very pleased to welcome Josh to Nona at a pivotal stage in our growth. His extensive experience in drug discovery and translational medicines, as well as his strong track record in building high-performing scientific teams will be instrumental as we continue to enhance our platform capabilities and global scientific leadership. We believe he will further strengthen our ability to deliver high-quality innovation and create long-term value for our partners."
Dr. Josh Xiao (搜索) expressed his enthusiasm for the role, stating: "Nona Biosciences (搜索) has been a leader in discovery and development of fully human antibodies and multi-specifics with its proprietary H2L2 Harbour Mice (搜索)® platform, HCAb Harbour Mice® platform, and Hu-mAtrIx (搜索)™ AI-driven drug discovery platform, enabling several new 'antibody+' therapeutics modalities. I am thrilled to join the Nona Biosciences team, and very excited to help strengthen and expand our technology platforms to help our partners succeed."
Technology Platform Portfolio
Nona Biosciences (搜索) operates through its comprehensive I to I® framework, supporting programs from early-stage ideas through preclinical research and advancement toward IND and early clinic, spanning target validation and antibody discovery to early development.
The company's proprietary Harbour Mice (搜索)® technology platform generates fully human monoclonal antibodies (搜索) in classical two light and two heavy chain (H2L2) format, and heavy chain-only (HCAb) format. The HCAb Harbour Mice® represents the world's first fully human HCAb transgenic mouse with clinical validation.
This unique platform offers exceptional versatility for diverse applications using fully human VH single-domain antibodies as a plug-and-play system, including bispecific antibodies (搜索), multi-specific antibodies, CAR-T therapies, antibody-drug conjugates (搜索) (ADCs), mRNA-based therapeutics, and more.
Integrated Technology Ecosystem
Nona Biosciences (搜索) integrates multiple cutting-edge technologies including Harbour Mice (搜索)®, single-B cell screening technology, NonaCarFx (搜索)™ (a direct CAR-function-based screening platform), Hu-mAtrIx (搜索)™ (an AI-driven drug discovery platform), Modalities-on-Demand® (a next-generation modalities solution), and end-to-end preclinical drug development services. This comprehensive approach positions the company to drive the global invention of transformative next-generation drugs.