bluebird bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLUE), a clinical-stage company committed to
developing potentially transformative gene therapies for severe genetic
and orphan diseases, today announced that Dr. Rick Morgan is joining the
company as vice president of Immunotherapy.
Dr. Morgan joins the company from National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the
National Institutes of Health where he was a Staff Scientist, working on
genetically modified T-lymphocytes. He is also an associate investigator
on all NCI Surgery Branch Clinical Gene Therapy Protocols. Previously
Dr. Morgan was Interim Chief at the Clinical Gene Therapy Branch of the
National Human Genome Research Institute.
“We are excited that Richard is joining bluebird bio,” stated Mitchell
Finer, PhD, bluebird bio’s Chief Scientific Officer. “This is an
exciting time for the company as we expand our immunotherapy program.
Richard has established himself as a leader in immunotherapy and gene
therapy and will be key to advancing our CAR-T efforts and more broadly
our T-cell platform.”
Dr. Morgan was a member of the team that preformed the world’s first
human gene therapy experiments in 1990 and in 2006 he was the first to
report that genetically engineered T cells can cause cancer regression
in humans. In his 30 years career, Dr. Morgan has received multiple
awards, most recently the Technology Transfer Award from the National
Cancer Institute in 2012 and the NCI Director’s Intramural Innovation
Award in 2010. He is a member of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, The Johns Hopkins Medical and Surgical
Association, American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy and Society for
Immunotherapy of Cancer. Dr. Morgan is an author of more than 190
scientific publications including papers with Nobel laureates EJ Corey,
Harold Varmus, and Andrew Fire. Dr. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Arts in
Biochemistry from Brandeis University and a Doctor of Philosophy in
Genetics from The Johns Hopkins University.
“This is a revolutionary time in the fields of immunotherapy and gene
therapy,” stated Dr. Morgan. “bluebird bio has established a leading
group of researchers in the field of CAR-T, a novel approach to treating
cancers and potentially, a wide range of immune mediated diseases. I
look forward to working with the team to advance these treatments
towards the clinic.”
About bluebird bio, Inc.
bluebird bio is a clinical-stage company committed to developing
potentially transformative gene therapies for severe genetic and orphan
diseases. bluebird bio has two clinical-stage programs in development.
The most advanced product candidate, Lenti-D, recently initiated a phase
2/3 study for the treatment of childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy
(CCALD), a rare, hereditary neurological disorder affecting young boys.
The next most advanced product candidate, LentiGlobin, is currently in a
phase 1/2 study in France for the treatment of beta-thalassemia major
and severe sickle cell disease. A second phase 1/2 study with
LentiGlobin in the United States has been initiated for the treatment of
beta-thalassemia major.
bluebird bio also has an early-stage chimeric antigen receptor-modified
T cell (CAR-T) program for oncology in partnership with Celgene
Corporation.
bluebird bio has operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Paris,
France. For more information, please visit www.bluebirdbio.com.
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 our clinical trials. Any
forward-looking statements in this press release 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 trials and/or our development of our
product candidates, the risk that the results of previously conducted
studies involving similar product candidates will not be repeated or
observed in ongoing or future studies involving current product
candidates, the risk that our collaboration with Celgene 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 quarterly 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.
Copyright Business Wire 2013