Dr Lu Xianping, Founder and Chairman of Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences, has been named the Chinese mainland winner of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025 awards, recognizing his groundbreaking contributions to pharmaceutical innovation. 

The award, themed "Two Decades of Unwavering Strength, Forging Ahead in the New Era," honors entrepreneurs who drive national prosperity and social progress through new-era innovation. 

Dr Lu, a distinguished scientist and entrepreneur, earned a PhD in Molecular Biology from Peking Union Medical College and conducted postdoctoral research in the US. Before founding Chipscreen Biosciences in 2001, he successfully established two biopharmaceutical companies. Motivated by the mission to "develop affordable innovative drugs for ordinary people," he returned to China to pioneer novel therapies. 

At a time when China largely focused on generic drugs, Dr Lu pursued first-in-class treatments with entirely new mechanisms of action. By leveraging chemical genomics and AI-assisted design, he dramatically improved R&D success rates and shortened development cycles. 

Under his leadership, Chidamide became China’s first original small-molecule anti-tumor innovative drug and the country’s first pharmaceutical product globally licensed out. It filled a critical gap in treating peripheral T-cell lymphoma and brought new hope for patients with breast cancer, adult T-cell leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and other malignancies.  

Another milestone, Chiglitazar Sodium, developed over 19 years for Type 2 diabetes, became the world’s first PPAR pan-agonist. Both drugs are included in China’s National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), significantly reducing patients’ financial burdens. 

Looking ahead, Chipscreen’s pipeline includes multiple drug candidates with first-in-class potential aimed at chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s. 

Beyond drug development, Dr. Lu has championed reforms in China’s pharmaceutical ecosystem, improving innovative drug review pathways, NRDL inclusion, and capital market mechanisms. Chipscreen has donated more than RMB 700 million worth of medicines, helping over 10,000 patients access treatment.