Chang Yi Wang

Chang Yi Wang (IPA: [tʃɒ̌ŋ jí wɒ́ŋ]) is the founder of United Biomedical, Inc. (UBI), headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, and its group of companies in Asia (including United Biomedical Asia).

Early life and education
Wang was born in Taiwan in 1951. Her father was a member of the National Assembly. She was inspired to go into science by the example of physicist Chien-Shiung Wu who disproved the ‘conservation of parity’ theory in 1957. She graduated with honors from the National Taiwan University in 1973, majoring in organic chemistry.

She was the first Asian woman on the Rockefeller University graduate programme and achieved her Ph.D. degree in 1979 with a dual specialization in Biochemistry and Immunology. She was mentored by Bruce Merrifield, Henry Kunkel, Gerald Edelman and Ralph Steinman. She then joined the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as the youngest faculty member, principal investigator, and head of the molecular immunology laboratory.

Career in immunology and entrepreneurship in the biomedical industry
In 1985, Wang and her husband Nean Hu founded United Biomedical, Inc. in New York - the company’s main focus is on medicine and vaccine development. She founded United Biomedical, Inc. Asia in Taiwan in 1998. She later founded United Biopharma and UBI Pharma in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

The companies later created testing for HIV and Hepatitis C, and carried out research on a vaccine for HIV.

Wang is the author of more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific publications and by 2019, she was the inventor of more than 80 patents.

Awards
In 2007, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA) presented Wang with the Inventor of the Year Award.

In 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Grand Challenges Exploration Grants to Wang for the Synthetic Peptides to Inhibit HIV Entry program.

In 2018, the Brain Mapping Foundation presented Wang with the Pioneer in Technology Award.

Legal case
In 2021, Wang was part of a court case which concerned the ownership of UBI, in particular, possible breach of contractual agreements and misuse of authority positions.

Family
Wang’s daughter Mei Mei Hu is the co-founder and CEO of Vaxxinity (originally named Covaxx), a subsidiary of UBI; the company originally focused on possible vaccines for Alzheimer’s and animal health but shifted to working on a vaccine for COVID-19. The company helped to develop vaccine candidate UB-612.

Professional and honorary affiliations

 * National Institutes of Health, United States
 * National Taiwan University (Adjunct Professor)
 * National Tsing Hua University (Adjunct Professor)