BRISBANE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGMO), a genomic medicine company, today announced the appointment of D. Mark McClung as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. Mr. McClung will oversee commercial strategic planning, alliance management and corporate and business development.
Mr. McClung’s appointment is the latest in the evolution of Sangamo’s leadership implemented over the last three years as the Company’s technology and research programs have advanced into a diversified pipeline of therapeutic product candidates in various stages of clinical development. During this period, Sangamo has also appointed executive vice presidents overseeing R&D, manufacturing, legal and finance.
“I’m excited to welcome Mark to Sangamo. With our first product candidate entering Phase 3 and our broad pipeline of proprietary and partnered programs advancing in development, we are increasingly focused on late stage development and commercialization strategies for genomic medicines. Mark has extensive experience leading commercial organizations in therapeutic areas where innovative products have disrupted standards of care,” said Sandy Macrae, Sangamo’s CEO.
From 2015 through 2019, Mr. McClung was Vice President and General Manager of Global Oncology Commercial at Amgen, which he joined from Onyx Pharmaceuticals where he had served as Chief Commercial Officer. For two decades prior, Mr. McClung held roles of increasing responsibility at GlaxoSmithKline in marketing and sales, commercial operations, and general management in the United States and Europe, including as Vice President and Head of Global Commercial for GSK Oncology from 2009 – 2013.
“Over the next decade, genomic medicines have the potential to transform the practice of health care across therapeutic areas from rare monogenic diseases to immunology and oncology, and even to highly prevalent neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease,” Mr. McClung commented. “With its deep scientific expertise, diverse technology platforms, broad pipeline and significant collaborations, Sangamo is well positioned for this new era, and I’m thrilled to join the Company at this time.”
Stephane Boissel, Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, will leave Sangamo at the end of July and eventually return to an entrepreneurial project. Mr. Boissel joined Sangamo in 2018 following the acquisition of TxCell (now Sangamo France), where he had served as CEO.
“Stephane’s impactful contributions to Sangamo will endure for many years. He has driven several remarkable deals to fruition, including most recently our transaction with Biogen, which is among the largest preclinical collaboration deals ever,” Macrae said. “It has been an enormous pleasure working with Stephane these last two years, and we wish him every success in the future.”
About Sangamo Therapeutics
Sangamo Therapeutics is committed to translating ground-breaking science into genomic medicines with the potential to transform patients’ lives using gene therapy, ex vivo gene-edited cell therapy, and in vivo genome editing and gene regulation. For more information about Sangamo, visit www.sangamo.com.
Sangamo Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Sangamo's current expectations. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the potential to develop, obtain regulatory approvals for and commercialize immunology and oncology therapies, therapies to treat rare monogenic diseases, neurological diseases and other diseases and other therapies and the timing and availability of such therapies, the potential for Sangamo to receive upfront licensing fees and earn milestone payments and royalties under the Biogen and other collaborations and the timing of such fees, payments and royalties, Sangamo’s product pipeline, technology platforms and scientific expertise, Sangamo’s financial resources and expectations and other statements that are not historical fact. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: the research and development process; the regulatory approval process for product candidates; the commercialization of approved products; the potential for technological developments that obviate Sangamo's technologies; the potential for Biogen to breach or terminate the collaboration agreement; and the potential for Sangamo to fail to realize its expected benefits of the Biogen and other collaborations. There can be no assurance that Sangamo will earn any upfront licensing fees or milestone or royalty payments under the Biogen or other collaborations or obtain regulatory approvals for product candidates arising from these collaborations. Actual results may differ from those projected in forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties that exist in Sangamo's operations and business environments. These risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Sangamo's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Sangamo undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.
