Our founders are highly experienced drug discovery scientists who understand the needs of modern drug discovery science.
Professor Andrew Wilks, Founder, Chairman & CEO
Andrew Wilks PhD has been involved as a scientist in pharmaceutical drug discovery for 3 decades, most recently as Chief Scientific Officer and founder of Cytopia, an Australian public drug discovery company engaged in cancer and inflammation drug discovery and development. Prior to starting Cytopia, Andrew was an accomplished scientist at the Ludwig institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne where he discovered the JAK kinases and published 1 book, 86 peer reviewed publications, and 35 patents and patent applications. His work on JAK kinases has been highly cited and he is a frequently invited speaker at international scientific and medical symposia. Andrew is a member of the board and/or scientific advisory board of a number of research companies, holds an Honorary Professorship in the Department of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University (Melbourne), and was the inaugural winner of the Australian Biobusiness Award in 2007. Based in Melbourne Australia, Andrew co-founded SYN|thesis in 2007 and now oversees global operations.
Dr Xian Bu, Founder & Managing Director, Shanghai operations
Xian is Managing Director of SYN|thesis operations, including the company's wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary in Shanghai, where he leads our principal synthetic and medicinal chemistry team. Xian previously served as Vice President for the Chinese chemistry service company, Syncores, and was a Senior Drug Discovery Scientist at Cytopia under Prof Wilks. Xian is an accomplished medicinal chemist in his own right and has been involved in drug discovery research for many years. He has proven capability in the management of a CRO company, rich experience in project management and real expertise in medicinal and synthetic chemistry. In particular Xian has an outstanding track record in the drug discovery and development area, especially in design and development of small molecules as drugs for oncology and cardiovascular diseases.
