– USA, MA – Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VYGR), a gene therapy company developing life-changing treatments today announced the appointment of Dr. Al Sandrock (M.D., Ph.D.) to its Board of Directors, effective February 7.
The company also announced a newly formed Executive Committee of the Board consisting of Dr. Sandrock, Michael Higgins, interim CEO, and Board Chairman, and Dr. Glenn Pierce, interim CSO, and Board member.
Dr. Sandrock will work with Voyager leadership to help shape future strategies for the Company’s next-generation TRACERTM AAV capsid screening platform and therapeutic programs and expand its external collaborations with scientific leaders and industry partners.
“We are thrilled to welcome Al Sandrock to Voyager. Al is a scientific visionary who led the development of multiple transformational therapies for serious neurological diseases. The Voyager leadership team looks forward to working closely with Al as he helps to inform long-term strategies for the Company’s TRACER AAV capsid platform, therapeutic programs, and external collaborations,” said interim CEO, Michael Higgins.
About Dr. Alfred W. Sandrock, Jr.
Dr. Sandrock joins Voyager following a prolific career in biopharmaceutical drug development. Dr. Sandrock spent 23 years at Biogen where he identified and developed novel therapies for a variety of serious diseases. While at Biogen, Dr. Sandrock served in positions of increasing responsibility, culminating in his service as EVP, Research and Development from October 2019 to December 2021. He also served an eight-year term as CMO at Biogen from 2012 to 2020 and served an eight-year term on the Biogen Executive Committee from 2013 to 2021. Earlier in his career, Dr. Sandrock held several senior executive positions at Biogen, including group SVP of development sciences, SVP of neurology R&D, and VP of clinical development, neurology. Throughout his tenure, he led the discovery and development, and regulatory approval of numerous medicines including ADUHELM, PLEGRIDY, SPINRAZA, TECFIDERA, and TYSABRI. Dr.
“Gene therapy is a compelling frontier of modern medicine. Voyager’s core technology platform stands apart for its potential to address fundamental technical challenges that have limited the application of the modality. I believe that Voyager’s platform could usher in a new era of gene therapy and enable a new wave of meaningful treatments for serious diseases. Voyager’s research team has identified AAV9- and AAV5-derived capsids with unique tissue tropisms that have shown strong potential for medical utility across a range of diseases,” said Dr. Sandrock. “I look forward to working closely with Voyager leadership to help extend the reach and impact of its technology to help more patients in need.”
Sandrock earned a B.A. in human biology from Stanford University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard University. He completed an internship in medicine, a residency and chief residency in neurology, and a clinical fellowship in Neuromuscular Disease and Clinical Neurophysiology (electromyography) at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Ms. Swartz joined Voyager in 2021 following a 25-year career with Genzyme and Sanofi Genzyme where she held several leadership positions, including VP of US and Global Business Operations, VP US Rare Disease Patient, and Product Services, and Senior Director Finance. She also served on the Sanofi-Aventis US LLC board of directors and was a member of the Executive Leadership Team for three years.
About Voyager Therapeutics
Voyager Therapeutics is leading the next generation of AAV gene therapy to unlock the potential of the technology to treat devastating diseases. Proprietary capsids born from the Company’s TRACER screening platform are powering a rich early-stage pipeline of new and second-generation programs and may elevate the field to overcome the limitations of conventional gene therapy vectors across neurologic disorders and other therapeutic areas.
For more information: https://www.voyagertherapeutics.com/
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