Sangamo Therapeutics appoints R&D chief

US therapeutic gene editing company Sangamo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SGMO) has appointed Adrian Woolfson as executive vice president of R&D, effective January 22, 2019. Dr Woolfson will oversee discovery, research and development activities for the company and will report to Sandy Macrae, chief executive.

"This is a meaningful time to welcome Adrian to Sangamo, as we expect a significant flow of clinical data from our genomic medicines programs throughout 2019 and will advance new programs into first-in-human studies," said Mr Macrae, adding: "Adrian's extensive experience in research, translational medicine and drug development will be instrumental in guiding our therapeutic development strategy and leading Sangamo's growth into a late-stage development company in the upcoming years."

Dr Woolfson has over a decade of biopharmaceutical industry experience in drug discovery, medical affairs and early and late stage clinical development. Most recently, he served as chief medical officer at Nouscom AG, a genetic cancer vaccine biotechnology company based in Basel, Switzerland, where he led the development of the company's off-the-shelf and personalized neoantigen vaccine and oncolytic virus strategy.