ROCKVILLE, Md., April 28, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- REGENXBIO Inc., a leading biotechnology company in gene therapy, today announced that Luke M. Beshar has been appointed to its board of directors effective April 15. Mr. Beshar will serve as the chairman of REGENXBIO's audit committee.
"Luke's strategic insights and deep financial expertise have contributed directly to the success of several biopharma companies," said Don Hayden, Chairman of REGENXBIO's board of directors. "His perspective and experience will be vital as we develop important new AAV gene therapy treatments for patients with serious rare diseases and rapidly move REGENXBIO forward."
Mr. Beshar brings more than 35 years of leadership experience to REGENXBIO's board. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Beshar helped reposition NPS as a leading global rare disease biopharmaceutical company, and was a key member of the team that led a $5.2 billion sale to Shire plc in February 2015.
Prior to NPS, Mr. Beshar served in leadership positions and as chief financial officer for numerous organizations including Cambrex Corporation, Dendrite International, Expanets, Inc., PNY Technologies, Inc., WSR Corporation, The Genlyte Group, Inc., Bairnco Corporation and Arthur Andersen & Co.
"REGENXBIO is uniquely positioned to be a global leader in gene therapy, as its NAV vectors have ushered in a new era of gene therapy innovation," said Mr. Beshar. "I am excited to be working with this impressive team and look forward to the company continuing to leverage its NAV Technology to generate life-changing gene therapy treatments for patients and creating multiple sources of value for shareholders."
Mr. Beshar is a graduate of The Executive Program, The Darden Graduate Business School, University of Virginia and received a B.A. from Michigan State University. He is a member of the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants and serves on the board of directors at Trillium Therapeutics Inc.
About REGENXBIO
REGENXBIO Inc. is the leading next-generation AAV gene therapy company, developing a new class of personalized therapies based on its proprietary NAV® Technology platform for a range of severe diseases with serious unmet needs. NAV Technology includes novel AAV vectors AAV7, AAV8, AAV9, and AAVrh10. REGENXBIO has enabled leading global partners including Baxter Healthcare, Fondazione Telethon, Audentes Therapeutics, Lysogene, Esteve, AveXis, AAVLife and Voyager Therapeutics to use its NAV Technology. In addition, together with Fidelity Biosciences, REGENXBIO formed Dimension Therapeutics, a company focused on the development and commercialization of NAV-based gene therapies for liver-directed rare diseases.
For more information about REGENXBIO, please visit www.regenxbio.com.