bluebird bio names Nicola Heffron as head of European business

Having just announced the first launch of its new gene therapy Zynteglo (autologous CD34+ cells encoding βA-T87Q-globin gene), in Germany, US gene therapy company bluebird bio (Nasdaq: BLUE) has appointed former Celgene executive Nicola Heffron to head up its European operations, based in Zug, Switzerland.

Prior to joining Celgene, now owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Ms Heffron has held executive positions at Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Shire, now part of Takeda,

She replaces senior vice president, head Europe, Andrew Obenshain, who has joined bluebird chief executive Nick Leschly at the company’s headquarters in Boston, USA, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news yesterday. Mr Obenshain’s new title is “chief of wings.”