Legend names founder Frank Zhang as chief executive officer

(Reuters) – Legend Biotech Corp , a cell therapy unit of Hong Kong-listed Genscript Biotech Corp <1548.HK>, said on Sunday it appointed Frank Zhang as chief executive officer and that he will step down as Genscript’s CEO.

Outgoing Legend CEO Yuan Xu resigned for personal reasons, according to the U.S.-based Biotech firm, adding that Xu also resigned from Legend’s board.

Zhang, who founded Legend in 2014, has been the board chairman for past five years. He will continue in the position and take charge as CEO effective immediately.

The leadership change came about two months after the firm’s U.S. stock market debut. Legend raised $423.8 million in the initial public offering.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)