Singapore: HitGen, a rapidly developing lead generation services company in the global biopharmaceutical industry, has appointed Dr Stephen Young as vice president of business development. He will be responsible for driving forward the business development function, and will report directly to Dr Jin Li, CEO of HitGen.

Dr Young brings more than 25 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience to HitGen. Until recently, he was director of chemistry at Vertex Pharmaceutical, Europe, where he led the medicinal chemistry function, delivering multiple drug discovery programmes in oncology and neurodegenerative disease areas.

Prior to Vertex, Dr Young worked in both biotechnology and major pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, Pharmacia, Amgen and Protherics. He is a highly accomplished and experienced leader in drug discovery research, and is author and co-author of over 70 publications and patents. In addition to his scientific leadership, Steve has also held marketing and commercial positions during his career.

Dr Jin Li, chairman and chief executive offer, HitGen said, "We are very pleased to have Steve join HitGen. I am confident that Steve's pharmaceutical industry experience, scientific insights and business skills will enable HitGen to grow its business partnerships, and help HitGen to deliver better services to our customers."