Early Life and Education
Michelle Xia was born in Gansu province, China, and is the daughter of two university-educated engineers. She received a Bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou in 1988. Xia then pursued a Ph.D. in molecular biology and microbiology from Newcastle University in the U.K., which she earned in 1994. Her academic pursuits included postgraduate study at the University of Glasgow and cancer immune therapy research at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in the U.S..
Rise to Success
Xia began her professional career at Axys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (later acquired by Celera Genomics), where she held scientific and managerial roles in drug discovery programs from December 2000 to December 2005. She then served as a senior process development scientist at Bayer Corporation in the U.S. from January to June 2006. Prior to founding Akeso, Xia was Senior Vice President at Crown Bioscience, in charge of the Biologics Business Unit and Pfizer-Crown Asian Cancer Research Center.
In 2012, Xia co-founded Akeso Biopharma, aiming to make therapeutic antibody drugs accessible and affordable. The company went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in April 2020. Under her leadership, Akeso developed Ivonescimab, which outperformed Merck's Keytruda in a Phase 3 trial. In March 2025, she was included in the "TIME100 Health" list.
Key Business Strategies
Akeso's strategy focuses on scientific advances, with a significant portion of the company's employees dedicated to research and development. The company emphasizes innovation, combining existing methods to create new treatments. Xia's focus on scientific excellence has led to Akeso developing multiple drug candidates in clinical trials, expanding beyond cancer treatments to address neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. Akeso has also licensed its drug candidates to other companies.
Philanthropy
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