ROCKVILLE, MD and SHENZHEN, CHINA, February 01, 2023 — HighTide Therapeutics, Inc. (“HighTide”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing multifunctional therapies for metabolic and digestive diseases, today announced the appointment of Dr. Tianwei Ma as VP of Discovery Research, reporting directly to Dr. Liping Liu, Chief Executive Officer of HighTide.

Dr. Tianwei Ma has more than 25 years of experiences in drug discovery focusing on medicinal chemistry. During his PhD research, Dr. Ma participated in the early discovery of Clevudine (Levovir)， an anti-HBV agent, which was approved later in Korea. He then spent nearly 20 years at Eli Lilly & Company, where he contributed to the delivery of multiple small molecule clinical candidates, while advancing from principal research scientist to director of chemistry. Dr. Ma was also a Lilly certified Six Sigma Black Belt. After his tenure at Eli Lilly & Company, Dr. Ma has since served in critical roles for two biotech companies, PegBio & Company (Suzhou) and BioFront Therapeutics (Beijing) as VP, head of chemistry, responsible for building and leading the team, product and portfolio design, implementation and progression. Dr. Ma is the inventor/co-inventor of nearly 30 patent applications (granted or under review)

"Warmly welcome Dr. Tianwei Ma to join the HighTide leadership team. His extensive experience in metabolic diseases, translational research, and drug development will allow him to play a critical role to expand our product portfolio, and advance early R&D programs into clinical development," said Dr. Liping Liu, Founder and CEO of HighTide.

"It is a great pleasure to join the HighTide team”, said Dr. Ma. "The potential impact of HighTide’s pipeline to improve patients’ lives is significant. It is an honor to work with HighTide team to contribute useful clinical application to patients in the future."

Dr. Tianwei Ma obtained his PhD degree in medicinal chemistry from the University of Georgia and he has a MSc. degree in medicinal chemistry from Peking University.

About HighTide
HighTide Therapeutics Inc. is a globally integrated biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of first-in-class multifunctional therapies with poly-indications across metabolic and digestive diseases with significant unmet medical needs.  The company is developing multiple clinical assets, including therapy for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), type 2 diabetes (T2DM), severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).  HTD1801, the company’s lead drug candidate, received Fast Track designation from the U.S. FDA for both NASH and PSC, as well as Orphan Drug designation for PSC.  In China, HTD1801 has been included in the National Major New Drug Innovation Program under the 13th Five-Year Plan for Major Technology Project.

For more information, please visit www.hightidetx.com, Contact: pr@hightidetx.com