Voyager lures Takeda exec to be its business chief

US adeno-associated virus (AAV) specialist Voyager Therapeutics (Nasdaq: VYGR) has announced the appointment of Beth Shafer as chief business officer (CBO).

Ms Shafer is a seasoned healthcare executive with more than 15 years of experience in corporate and business development at prominent biopharmaceutical companies, as well as deep knowledge in neurology. She most recently served as vice president and head of R&D business development, gastrointestinal & inflammation, neuroscience, drug discovery sciences, externalizations at Takeda (TYO: 4502).

“Voyager’s TRACER capsid platform and neurology programs continue to attract significant interest from third parties,” said Dr Alfred Sandrock Jr, chief executive of Voyager. “Beth has extensive experience in business development and strategic planning, and we look forward to the valuable insights she will bring both in optimizing the opportunities in front of us today and in helping Voyager to maximize value creation for patients and for shareholders into the future.”