BRIEF—Voyager Therapeutics names Alfred Sandrock as CEO

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) specialist Voyager Therapeutics today announced the appointment of Dr Alfred Sandrock Jr as chief executive (CEO).

Dr Sandrock succeeds Michael Higgins, who served as interim CEO since June 2021, and continues to serve as chairman of the Voyager board of directors.

“I am excited to welcome Al Sandrock as CEO. Al is a global thought leader in neuroscience with an impressive track record bringing transformative new medicines to patients,” said Mr. Higgins.

“His success pioneering the development of numerous innovative neurological treatments, and particularly, his skill in advancing promising candidates from early-stage research toward clinical proof of concept, is perfectly suited for Voyager. He is the ideal leader to amplify the impact of our proprietary TRACER AAV capsids that we believe can overcome many of the limitations of first-generation AAV gene therapy and create meaningful therapeutics for patients,” Mr Higgns added.

Dr Sandrock was appointed to the Voyager board of directors in February 2022, following 23 years at Biogen, where he identified and developed novel therapies for a variety of serious diseases.

He served an eight-year term as chief medical officer at Biogen and was ultimately appointed head of research and development.