Orchard Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming the lives of patients with rare disorders through innovative gene therapies, today announced the appointment of Frank Thomas to the newly created position of chief financial officer and chief business officer.
Thomas brings nearly 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry as an accomplished financial and business executive with an extensive set of capabilities to Orchard. Mr. Thomas has a background developing and executing capital markets strategies for private and public companies as well as experience in operations management, and corporate and business development. He joins Orchard Therapeutics to oversee the company’s global finance and business development teams.
Until recently Thomas served as president and chief operating officer of AMAG Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AMAG) where he helped develop the business from a single product company in 2011 to one with a portfolio of commercial and development-stage products that generated more than $600 million in sales in 2017. During that time, Mr. Thomas raised more than $1.8 billion in new capital to support the significant growth of AMAG.
Before joining AMAG, he served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer for Molecular Biometrics, Inc., a commercial stage medical diagnostics company. Earlier in his career, Mr. Thomas also served as chief financial officer for Critical Therapeutics and Esperion Therapeutics. Each completed its initial public offering in the United States during his tenure. Mr. Thomas currently serves on the board of directors of Zafgen (Nasdaq: ZFGN) and Spero Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SPRO) where he is also chairman of the audit committees. Mr. Thomas received a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Mark Rothera, CEO of Orchard, said: “I am delighted to welcome Frank to Orchard. We are making great strides toward building a leading, global, fully-integrated company that transforms the lives or patients with rare diseases through innovative gene therapies. Frank brings extensive experience and capabilities that complement our existing leadership team and will enable us to realize our vision faster.”
Mr. Thomas commented: “Orchard represents one of the most promising companies in the biopharmaceutical space. Its gene therapy platform has already resulted in life-changing therapies for patients with severe inherited diseases. In addition, Orchard has assembled a global investor syndicate that has deployed significant capital into the company to support the rapid and global advancement of its pipeline. I am excited to join at this pivotal time to support the entire Orchard team to realize the full potential of the business in the coming years.”
About Orchard Therapeutics
Orchard Therapeutics is a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to transforming the lives of patients with rare and life-threatening diseases by developing innovative gene therapies. Orchard, based in the UK and US, has partnered with world leaders in gene therapy, including University College London, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the University of Manchester and Central Manchester University Hospitals, the University of California Los Angeles and Boston Children’s Hospital. Orchard’s growing pipeline of autologous ex vivo lentiviral gene therapy programs for rare immune deficiencies and metabolic disorders includes late clinical stage programs that have already provided transformative treatment for patients with rare genetic diseases. In 2016 the company was named a Fierce 15 Company by Fierce Biotech and was awarded a $19 million grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to advance their autologous ex vivo lentiviral gene therapy in ADA-SCID. In 2017, Orchard raised $110 million in a Series B round of funding to further develop its pipeline in parallel with enhancing manufacturing capabilities.
Corporate contact
Nicolas Koebel
Orchard Therapeutics
+44 (0) 203 384 6700
Media contact
Allison Blum, Ph.D.
LifeSci Public Relations
+1 516 655 0842
Allison@lifescipublicrelations.com
