PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Passage Bio, a genetic medicines company developing AAV-delivered gene therapies for the treatment of rare monogenic central nervous system diseases, today announced the appointment of Richard Morris as chief financial officer.
“We are extremely excited to have Rich join the growing team at Passage Bio,” said Dr. Stephen Squinto, co-founder and interim chief executive officer at Passage Bio. “With over 20 years of experience building and growing biotech organizations through diligent financial planning and execution, Rich will be able to provide financial and strategic leadership that will be instrumental as we advance Passage Bio into its next stage of growth and begin clinical trials for our lead programs.”
Richard Morris joins Passage Bio from Context Therapeutics, where he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Prior to his position at Context, Richard was chief financial officer of Vitae Pharmaceuticals, where he was instrumental in transforming the company from a private, preclinical company to a public, clinical-stage and subsequently commercial company, which was then acquired by Allergan plc in 2016. Previously, he was vice president, global financial planning and strategy at ViroPharma Inc., where he supported the team leading its acquistion by Shire and previously held the position of chief accounting officer and controller. During his time at ViroPharma, Richard also helped build a scalable finance organization to support rapid growth of the rare disease company and establish the European and global pharmaceutical operations. Earlier, he was in the healthcare assurance practive at KPMG LLP. Richard received his B.S. in Accounting from St. Joseph’s University and is a CPA.
About Passage Bio
Passage Bio is a privately-held fully integrated genetic medicines company with a mission to develop a portfolio of life-transforming AAV-delivered therapeutics for the treatment of rare monogenic central nervous system diseases. The company is based in Philadelphia, PA and has a research, collaboration and license agreement with the University of Pennsylvania and its Gene Therapy Program (GTP), as well as the Orphan Disease Center at Penn. The GTP conducts the IND-enabling preclinical work and Passage Bio conducts all clinical development, regulatory strategy and commercialization activities. The company has a development portfolio of six product candidates, with the option to license six more, with lead programs in GM1 gangliosidosis, frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Krabbe disease, all of which are planned to be in the clinic in 2020. Since launching the company, Passage Bio has raised $225.5 million with investments from OrbiMed, Versant Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Access Biotechnology, Lily Asia Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners, Vivo Capital, and Boxer Capital of Tavistock Group, among others.
For further information, please contact:
Investors:
Sarah McCabe
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
212-362-1200
sarah.mccabe@sternir.com
Media:
Emily Maxwell
HDMZ
312-506-5220
emily.maxwell@hdmz.com