Shengjiang Shawn Liu

Dr. Liu is an experienced biotechnologist, biopharma scientist, entrepreneur and executive. After receiving his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Kansas State University and completing his post-doctoral training with Dr. Arthur Kornberg, Stanford University, he served as the group leader at Genentech Virology Research Lab. He discovered and characterized rabbit calicivirus (RCV) which caused rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHDV) in 1984. He developed an inactivated RHDV vaccine and several fast detection methods that were effectively used for controlling and preventing RHD disease Worldwide.

In 2000, he co-founded and acted as the president of Abmaxis Inc., which pioneered the breakthrough antibody engineering and production technology called Abmaxis In Silico Immunization (ASIMTM). Abmaxis Inc. was acquired by Merck Co. in 2006. Between 2006-2019, he was the Sr. Principal and Chief Scientist in Biological Development of Bayer Pharmaceuticals. He played important roles in the development and regulatory submission of 33 biologics during his biopharma career, including recombinant human factor VIII (rhuFVIII), Kovaltry®, long acting rhuFVIII-BDD (Jivi®), Rituxan® etc. Before joining Avirmax, he was actively involved in AAV-FVIII gene therapy development for hemophilia A. Now he is focusing primarily on AAV capsid & GOI engineering, payload innovation, development, and production for ocular disorders.