Nancy T. Chang
Nancy Tang Chang (born 1950), née Tang Nanshan (), is a biochemist who cofounded Tanox in 1986 to address medical needs in the areas of allergy, asthma, inflammation and diseases affecting the human immune system. Tanox took an innovative approach in developing an asthma drug that focused on the allergy-related basis of asthma, Xolair. In June 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xolair, the first biotech product cleared for treating those with asthma related to allergies. Tanox was also active in the development of TNX-355, an antibody for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. In 2007, Tanox was sold to Genentech for $919 million. Dr. Chang grew Tanox from an idea to a substantial publicly traded company, doing innovative science. Following her success with Tanox, she has become an angel investor in health-care entrepreneurships and performs philanthropic work in community health-education projects. Biography Nancy Chang was born in Taiwan in 1950. Her parents were from mainland China, and had traveled to Taiwan after their marriage. Due to political unrest in China, they were not allowed to return, and stayed in Taiwan. Nancy attended Taipei First Girls' High School in Taipei, where "we were trained to compete with the boys".