CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--bluebird bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE), a clinical-stage company committed to developing potentially transformative gene therapies for severe genetic diseases and T cell-based immunotherapies for cancer, today announced two new appointments as part of the company’s ongoing preparation for commercial readiness. Susanna High was named chief operating officer and Andrew Obenshain was named senior vice president and head of Europe.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Susanna and Andrew to bluebird bio,” said Nick Leschly, chief bluebird. “As bluebird becomes more operationally complex and prepares for commercialization in Europe and the U.S., they will be key to rounding out our growing leadership reach and depth to meet the challenge. Both Susanna and Andrew have not only very relevant experiences, but importantly they believe strongly in our mission and the value of a purpose-driven culture.”
Ms. High brings more than 20 years of strategic and operational experience in growing biopharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining bluebird, she worked at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., holding increasing responsibilities for company strategy, business planning, portfolio and program management, alliance management, information technology and broader organizational capability building initiatives. Prior to her time at Alnylam, Ms. High worked at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda Oncology). Ms. High received her BA in Economics and Business Management, Financial Planning and Analysis from Università ‘Luigi Bocconi’ and her MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Sloan School of Management.
Mr. Obenshain was most recently at Shire in Paris, France where he was the General Manager of France and Benelux overseeing a portfolio including seven rare disease products. Prior to Shire, he spent eight years at Genzyme and Sanofi holding roles of increasing responsibility in business development, marketing and global commercial operations. Mr. Obenshain received his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and his BA in Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology from Dartmouth College.
About bluebird bio, Inc.
With its lentiviral-based gene therapies, T cell immunotherapy expertise and gene editing capabilities, bluebird bio has built an integrated product platform with broad potential application to severe genetic diseases and cancer. bluebird bio’s gene therapy clinical programs include its Lenti-D™ product candidate, currently in a Phase 2/3 study, called the Starbeam Study, for the treatment of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, and its LentiGlobin™ BB305 product candidate, currently in four clinical studies for the treatment of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia and severe sickle cell disease. bluebird bio’s oncology pipeline is built upon the company’s leadership in lentiviral gene delivery and T cell engineering, with a focus on developing novel T cell-based immunotherapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR T) and T cell receptor (TCR) therapies. bluebird bio’s lead oncology program, bb2121, is an anti-BCMA CAR T program partnered with Celgene. bb2121 is currently being studied in a Phase 1 trial for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. bluebird bio also has discovery research programs utilizing megaTALs/homing endonuclease gene editing technologies with the potential for use across the company’s pipeline.
bluebird bio has operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; and Paris, France.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding
the advancement of, and anticipated development and commercialization
plans for the Company’s product candidates. Any forward-looking
statements are based on management’s current expectations of future
events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set
forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of cessation or
delay of any of the ongoing or planned clinical studies or development
activities for our product candidates, the risk of a delay in the
enrollment of patients in the Company’s clinical studies, the risk that
the results of previously conducted studies of the Company’s product
candidates will not be repeated or observed in ongoing or future studies
of the Company’s product candidates, the risk that our collaborations
will not continue or will not be successful, and the risk that any one
or more of our product candidates will not be successfully developed and
commercialized. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and
other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to
differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the
section entitled “Risk Factors” in our most recent annual report on Form
10-Q, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and
other important factors in our subsequent filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of
the date of the release, and bluebird bio undertakes no duty to update
this information unless required by law.
