WALNUT CREEK, Calif. and SHANGHAI, Sept. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dark Horse Consulting Group (DHCG) marked the opening of its Shanghai office with a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating Dark Horse Consulting China. The event brought together DHCG leadership, “Shanghai Center of Biomedicine Development”, “China leading CDMO and CRO companies”, and invited guests from across the region's life sciences community. Anthony Davies, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, led the ceremony, joined by John Ng, MBA, General Manager, DHC Asia Pacific, and Kang Liu, Ph.D., Senior Director, Head of China. The ribbon cutting ceremony is jointly performed by Mr. Zhang Hua, Deputy Director at Shanghai Center of Biomedicine Development, Anthony Davies, Founder and CEO at DHCG and John Ng, GM APAC at DHCG.

DHCG announced the formation of Dark Horse Consulting China in August 2026, together with Kang Liu's appointment to lead it. The practice was established to help biotherapeutic developers leverage China's advanced CDMO and CRO infrastructure, its streamlined regulatory pathways to first-in-human (FIH), and its growing role as a hub for globally relevant clinical data. China's life sciences sector is at an inflection point. Its manufacturing and contract research infrastructure now rivals global standards, its regulatory frameworks continue to mature, and the Investigator Initiated Trial (IIT) pathway offers developers a cost-effective route to FIH data.

Those advantages are driving a fundamental shift in the global biopharma landscape. Lower clinical costs and faster timelines have made China IITs a serious consideration for innovative companies, supported by an ecosystem in which leading CDMOs match their global counterparts, intellectual property enforcement is held to international standards, and co-development agreements with western partners have become routine. Under Decree 818, studies are restricted to Grade A tertiary hospitals, a measure that has strengthened data quality, and western regulators are increasingly recognizing the validity of IIT-generated data.

“Standing in Shanghai with our partners makes concrete something we have believed for years: biotech is a truly global industry, and China is a core consideration for western developers rather than an afterthought. Dark Horse Consulting China is how we make that opportunity navigable for our clients," said Anthony Davies, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Dark Horse Consulting Group.

Dark Horse Consulting China guides clients through every stage of the IIT process, from assessing strategic fit and building a regulatory strategy that works across frameworks, to CMC planning, CDMO and CRO selection, hospital and principal investigator selection, supply chain management, and strategy for fundraising and asset licensing.

“Today marks the beginning of the work, not the end of it. The opportunity to generate meaningful clinical data in China and to accelerate programs globally is real, and it is here now. DHCG China exists to make that path clear, strategic, and executable," said Kang Liu, Ph.D., Senior Director, Head of China at Dark Horse Consulting Group.

About Dark Horse Consulting Group

Dark Horse Consulting Group is a worldwide consulting organization with offices in North America, Europe, and APAC. Founded in 2014 to accelerate the development and delivery of cell and gene therapies through specialized expertise, the firm's focus has since expanded dramatically, with consulting team expertise now encompassing strategy, operations, Quality, regulatory affairs, manufacturing, modeling, supply chain, commercial launch, and business optimization across the biopharma landscape. DHCG provides white-glove client service grounded in rigorous scientific and technical expertise, from early discovery through commercial launch. The organization comprises three business units, DHC, BioTechLogic, and Converge Consulting, with Bruder Consulting & Venture Group forming a specialized Regenerative Medicine department within DHC. DHCG is currently expanding into the APAC region in 2026 through the acquisition of CJP Tokyo and the formation of Dark Horse Consulting China.