Wenqing Yao

Wenqing Yao is the founder and CEO of Synnovation Therapeutics, a precision-oncology biotech in Wilmington, Delaware. A medicinal chemist by training, he spent nearly two decades at Incyte building and leading its discovery chemistry engine, a stretch that produced five FDA-approved drugs including Jakafi. In 2021 he left to start Synnovation, which launched publicly in January 2024 with a $102 million Series A to advance best-in-class small molecules against highly validated targets, led by a CNS-penetrant, isoform-selective PARP1 inhibitor and a mutant-selective PI3K-alpha inhibitor.