Ascentage Pharma Chairman and CEO Dr. Dajun Yang Named to The Medicine Maker Power List 2026

Ascentage Pharma Chairman and CEO Dr. Dajun Yang has been named to The Medicine Maker Power List 2026, ranking No. 3 among the Top 10 in the Small Molecules category.

Published annually, the Power List recognizes global leaders across small molecules, biopharma and advanced therapies. Nominated by industry peers worldwide and selected by a panel of expert judges, the Power List celebrates individuals whose work continues to advance drug discovery, manufacturing innovation and patient access to innovative medicines. The 2026 edition honors 60 distinguished leaders from across the global pharmaceutical industry.

The Medicine Maker is a leading international publication serving the global pharmaceutical industry, covering the full spectrum from drug discovery and CMC development to industrialization and commercialization. Since its launch, the annual Power List has featured industry leaders, renowned scientists and other distinguished figures from across the global pharmaceutical industry whose work continues to advance pharmaceutical innovation and has become an important benchmark of leadership and industry impact.

Dajun co-founded Ascentage Pharma in 2009 and has spent more than 30 years working in oncology, apoptosis pathways, and innovative drug development. Under his leadership, Ascentage has advanced a pipeline of small molecule cancer therapies with global first- and best-in-class potential, including olverembatinib, the first third-generation BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved in China. In July 2025, Ascentage secured approval in China for lisaftoclax in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma, making it only the second Bcl-2 inhibitor approved anywhere in the world since venetoclax in 2016. Dajun is now leading several global Phase III programs, including studies of olverembatinib and lisaftoclax across hematologic cancers and solid tumors, while also advancing newer approaches such as targeted protein degradation.

For more than three decades, Dr. Yang has remained committed to advancing global innovation in oncology drug development with a focus on addressing significant unmet medical needs. Under his leadership, Ascentage Pharma has successfully commercialized two innovative therapies, olverembatinib and lisaftoclax, both of which filled important gaps in clinical treatment. The Company is currently advancing multiple global registrational Phase III clinical studies, four of which have been cleared by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Notably, lisaftoclax is currently the only Bcl-2 inhibitor being evaluated in a global registrational Phase III study for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), with the potential to address a longstanding unmet clinical need in this setting.

Under Dr. Yang’s leadership, the Company has also completed one of the largest business development transactions involving an innovative small molecule company in China. Following its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2019 and its Nasdaq listing in January 2025, Ascentage Pharma became the first biopharmaceutical company to achieve dual primary listings by listing first in Hong Kong and subsequently in the United States.