Zhaohui Peng

Zhaohui Peng led the development of Gendicine (recombinant human p53 adenovirus), the world's first commercially approved gene therapy product, receiving Chinese SFDA approval in 2003 for treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Gendicine delivers wild-type p53 tumor suppressor gene via replication-defective adenoviral vector to restore p53-dependent apoptosis in p53-mutant tumors. Clinical data from thousands of treated patients have demonstrated that Gendicine combined with radiation or chemotherapy improves response rates in head and neck, liver, and lung cancers. His work pioneered the regulatory pathway for gene therapy approval and demonstrated the clinical feasibility of tumor suppressor gene replacement therapy.