PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONCE), a fully integrated gene therapy company dedicated to challenging the inevitability of genetic disease, today announced the appointment of John Furey to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Mr. Furey will be responsible for global commercial operations, medical affairs, technology development and technical operations. He will report to Jeffrey D. Marrazzo, chief executive officer, and will be an executive officer of the company.
“Over the next few years, Spark Therapeutics will continue its transformation into a global commercial company with the agility to scale our commercial and manufacturing operations as needed to bring our investigative gene therapies to patients around the world,” said Mr. Marrazzo. “John brings a wide breadth of general management experience gained while working in the U.S., Europe and Asia, with deep expertise in commercial and manufacturing operations, general management on the local and global level, as well as global pricing and reimbursement. We are thrilled to add John to our existing leadership team that will continue to lead Spark’s transformation over the next few years.”
Mr. Furey has 25 years of experience in developing and implementing operational strategies and leading commercial and technical teams. Prior to joining Spark Therapeutics, he was senior vice president and head of global operations for Baxalta, where he directed manufacturing, quality, engineering, and process development. Mr. Furey actively managed a $2.5 billion production budget across Baxalta's global network and led a first-in-class supply chain organization for rare diseases. He led the team that coordinated and delivered the successful establishment of Baxalta through a spin out from Baxter and led the Baxter Vaccine inline business to realize significant top line and bottom line growth. He also spent two years in China as general manager of Pfizer’s vaccine business unit following a role with responsibility for global pricing and reimbursement at Pfizer Vaccines. In these roles, Mr. Furey gained extensive experience in pipeline development and global product launches. Earlier in his career, he held both commercial and operations positions of increasing scope and responsibility with Pfizer and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Furey has an executive M.B.A. from St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, a B.S. from Trinity College, Dublin, and a diploma in Environmental Health from the Dublin Institute of Technology.
About Spark Therapeutics
Spark Therapeutics, a fully integrated company, is challenging the inevitability of genetic disease by discovering, developing, and delivering gene therapies that address inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), liver-mediated diseases such as hemophilia, and neurodegenerative diseases. Our validated platform successfully has delivered proof-of-concept data with investigational gene therapies in the retina and liver. Our most advanced investigational candidate, voretigene neparvovec, in development for the treatment of RPE65-mediated IRD, has received orphan designations in the U.S. and European Union, and breakthrough therapy designation in the U.S. The pipeline also includes SPK-7001, in a Phase 1/2 trial for choroideremia, and two hemophilia development programs: SPK-9001 in a Phase 1/2 trial for hemophilia B being developed in collaboration with Pfizer (which also has received both breakthrough therapy and orphan product designations) and SPK-8011, a preclinical candidate for hemophilia A to which Spark Therapeutics retains global commercialization rights. To learn more about us and our growing pipeline, visit www.sparktx.com.