PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spark Therapeutics, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and a fully integrated, commercial gene therapy company dedicated to challenging the inevitability of genetic disease, today announced the appointment of Cynthia Pussinen as chief technical officer (CTO). Cynthia has more than 25 years of experience in the biopharma industry, leading teams in manufacturing, quality, supply chain, formulation development and process sciences. As CTO, she will oversee Spark’s manufacturing and technical operations, including pipeline process development, preclinical and clinical manufacturing, and the commercial manufacturing and distribution of LUXTURNA® (voretigene neparvovec-rzyl).
“As Spark looks to the future of gene therapy and our growing research and development portfolio, bringing products through the clinical trial process and successfully to market requires both breadth and depth in scaling technical development and operations,” said Jeffrey D. Marrazzo, chief executive officer of Spark Therapeutics. “We are excited to welcome Cynthia to Spark, as she brings both the expertise and leadership needed to be successful in this role. We are confident she will be an excellent addition to our management team as we prepare to bring forward the next generation of gene therapies to patients.”
Previously, Cynthia served as global vice president and general manager, Life Sciences and Specialty Chemicals, for Honeywell International, Inc., where she developed and executed a comprehensive strategy designed for significant, sustained growth and innovation across multiple verticals including process automation and artificial intelligence (AI).
“Gene therapies represent the present and future of medicine, and it is an honor to join Spark, the proven gene therapy leader that is building on its successes to unlock the full potential of gene therapy for patients with inherited diseases,” said Pussinen. “I admire the Spark team’s passion for the important role they play in delivering innovative gene therapies to patients, and I look forward to joining the company and making an impact on those patients’ lives.”
Prior to her role at Honeywell, she was the executive vice president, Technical Development, Operations and Supply Chain for Actinium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Cynthia also worked at Ipsen Biosciences, the U.S. subsidiary of Ipsen, serving as president and, prior to that, vice president of Technical Operations and Development. She previously spent more than 18 years at Pfizer in a variety of roles including portfolio and project management, logistics and supply chain, pharmaceutical sciences and as a scientist in medicinal chemistry.
Cynthia holds a Master of Science in R&D management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, with a minor in engineering, from the University of Connecticut.
About Spark Therapeutics
At Spark Therapeutics, a fully integrated, commercial company committed to discovering, developing and delivering gene therapies, we challenge the inevitability of genetic diseases, including blindness, hemophilia, lysosomal storage disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. We currently have four programs in clinical trials. At Spark, a member of the Roche Group, we see the path to a world where no life is limited by genetic disease. For more information, visit www.sparktx.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
