Zhangxiaojin

Dr. Zhang is currently a distinguished professor of Medicinal Chemistry and serves as the director of the Department of Chemistry at China Pharmaceutical University. He has been awarded the Excellent Young Scientists Fund by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). He worked as a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford from 2019 to 2020. His primary research interests foucus on the rational drug design and discovery of small-molecule modulators targeting cellular oxygen-sensing system.

Prof. Zhang has led over ten drug research projects funded by the NSFC, Jiangsu Province, and industrial parterners. As a corresponding author, he has published over 60 papers in prestigious international journals, including Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Science, European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Communications, and Organic Letters. He holds more than 20 granted invention patents in China, the US, Europe, Japan, and other regions. He has devoted to the design and discovery of a drug candidate in clinical trials for the treatment of renal anemia. 

1. “A small-molecule inhibitor of factor inhibiting HIF binding to a tyrosine-flip pocket for the treatment of obesity.” – Published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024.

2. “In situ inhibitor synthesis and screening by fluorescence polarization: an efficient approach for accelerating drug discovery.” – Published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2022.

3. “A carbon-carbon bond cleavage–based prodrug activation strategy applied to β-lapachone for cancer-specific targeting.” – Published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2022.

4. “Structure-guided optimisation of N-hydroxythiazole-derived inhibitors of factor inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor-α. Chemical Science.” – Published in Chemical Science, 2023.

5. “Discovery of a potent and orally bioavailable xanthine oxidase/urate transporter 1 dual inhibitor as a potential treatment for hyperuricemia and gout.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2024.

6. “Preferred conformation-guided discovery of potent and orally active HIF prolyl hydroxylase 2 inhibitors for the treatment of anemia.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2023.

7. “Discovery of a potent and orally bioavailable hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF-2α) agonist and its synergistic therapy with prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors for the treatment of renal anemia.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2021.

8. “Inhibition of the oxygen-sensing asparaginyl hydroxylase factor inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor: A potential hypoxia response modulating strategy.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2021.

9. “Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive prodrugs, probes, and theranostic prodrugs: applications in the ROS-related diseases.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2021.

10. Discovery of clinical candidate “(5-(3-(4-chlorophenoxy)prop-1-yn-1-yl)-3-hydroxypicolinoyl)glycine, an orally bioavailable prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor for the treatment of anemia.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2020.

11. “Photoactivatable prolyl hydroxylase 2 inhibitors for stabilizing the hypoxia-inducible factor with light.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2019.

12. “Small-molecule modulators of the hypoxia-inducible factor pathway: Development and therapeutic applications.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2019.

13. “Discovery of nonquinone substrates for NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) as effective intracellular ROS generators for the treatment of drug-resistant non-small cell lung cancer.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2018.

14. “Click chemistry–based discovery of [3-hydroxy-5-(1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)picolinoyl]glycines as orally active hypoxia inducing factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors with favorable safety profiles for the treatment of anemia.” – Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2018.

    
    

1. Drug design, discovery, and chemical biology studies targeting cellular oxygen-sensing system;

2. Patient-focused small-molecule drug discovery and development

3. Innovative approaches for drug discovery and optimization.

1. Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Awards;

2. First Prize of the Ministry of Education Natural Science Awards;

3. First Prize of the Jiangsu Science and Technology Awards;

4. 2016’s CPA-Servier Young Investigator Awards in Medicinal Chemistry.

Organic Chemistry

Experiment and Guidance for Organic Chemistry

Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Development Cases; CHAPTER 27