Zhongli Gao
Sanofi, US
Biography
Zhongli Gao, Ph. D. is currently a Sr. Principal Scientist at Sanofi. He received his Ph. D. in Organic Chemistry at City University of New York in 1993. Upon graduation, he carried out his postdoctoral research on the total synthesis of Spinosyn A supervised by Professor Paquette at Ohio State University. He joined Hoechst Pharmaceuticals, one of the predecessor companies of Sanofi in 1995. He has worked on a broad range of disease areas in CNS, respiratory, inflammation, oncology, and rare disease involving GPCRs, proteases, enzymes, kinases, ion channels and transporters. He has led many projects in advancing compounds into clinical and preclinical or go/no-go decisions. In particular, his team has successfully transitioned SAR152954, a H3 receptor antagonist for Cognitive Impairment, and AVE8923, an orally active β-tryptase inhibitor for Asthma, into clinical development. He held 29 patents/ patent applications and 20+ peer reviewed publications.